Trust failed to start a patient's dental treatment within the 18 week national standard

What happened

Following the referral to the Trust, Mr A waited for 41 weeks before he saw a Trust clinician who could offer the specialist treatment. The Trust apologised for the long wait but said that dental services did not come under the national standard time limit, which is 18 weeks from referral to treatment.

While he waited for the dental treatment from the Trust, Mr A continued to suffer pain and tooth infections. He was prescribed antibiotics and painkillers, including codeine, to try to control this.

What we found

We took advice from a dental adviser and a physician adviser. The Trust's endodontic service (a dental service concerned with specific parts of a tooth) was consultant-led. Therefore, Mr A should have been seen within 18 weeks of referral. This did not happen. The Trust did not get it right and this was service failure.

Because of the Trust's failure to begin treatment within 18 weeks, Mr A continued to suffer further infections of the affected tooth. He took codeine on a regular basis to relieve the pain. Mr A suffered from constipation, a common side effect of taking codeine. His constipation was severe and he went on to develop haemorrhoids and anal fissures, which caused him great distress. This was an injustice to him.

Putting it right

The Trust wrote to Mr A to acknowledge the service failure we found and apologised for the effect it had on him. It also paid him £2,000 in recognition of the injustice caused to him.

The Trust agreed to prepare an action plan describing what it had done, or planned to do, to prevent this failing happening again.