"Disappointed and in severe pain."

Dear Unhappy85

I am very sorry to learn of your toothache and I appreciate that this can be extremely painful and debilitating. I do hope that this settles soon and that you manage to see your own Dentist today.

I apologise that your call back time was exceeded and I am keen to understand why, therefore if you would be kind enough to contact me directly, this would enable a review of your call to our service. This is not the sort of experience we wish for callers as clearly we have set an expectation that a return call will be made within an indicative timeframe. The delay may have been due to the volume of calls being managed by our dental team at that time as, at the weekends, we can receive a particularly high call demand.

In relation to Out of Hours Dental provision, whilst there may be provision in your area, the appointment times, location and capacity, are determined by the local Health Boards. NHS 24 has no control over this. When all available appointments are full, this can present a challenge, however our assessment process is designed to ensure patient safety at all times.

I would like to assure you however that we are working closely with our partner Health Boards in an attempt to improve the patient experience in relation to Out of Hours dental provision.

I look forward to hearing from you when, with some additional detail, I can arrange a review of your contact with us. Please do not hesitate to contact me on 0141 337 4582 or by email at patientaffairs@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk

With kind regards

Shona

Shona Lawrence

NHS 24 Patient Affairs Manager