Anger as Hull primary school principal axes free dental checks for pupils
EXCLUSIVE
Parents have reacted with anger after a primary school in one of Hull’s most socially deprived neighbourhoods withdrew from a free dental hygiene programme for pupils.
They claim leaders of the academy trust running Newington Primary School have “no idea” of the health issues faced by some of the children.
For the last two years the school in Dairycoates Avenue, West Hull, has been part of the Prevention Action and Treatment (PAT) initiative, which is funded by the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.
PAT is currently providing dental care to over 32,000 children whose parents have given consent in 143 primary schools across the ICB region.
Under the scheme, pupils take part in daily supervised toothbrushing in class during registration while staff from nearby dental practices carry out six-monthly dental screening checks and six-monthly flouride applications.
In addition, teaching presentations are given to all Year 4 pupils with access being provided to services at a local dental practice for any necessary follow-up treatment.
Schools in Hull and the East Riding are identified for inclusion in the programme based on recognised income deprivation index data covering the take-up of free school meals as well as paediatric general anaesthetic rates, with tooth decay being the top reason for children aged between five and nine-year-old in the city being admitted to hospital.
Since April, 130 children at Newington Primary have been assessed as part of PAT with 46 being identified as having a dental need.
However, according to parents and a principal dentist at a local practice, the school’s temporary principal Pippa Robinson - who is also northern regional executive head of the Lift Academy Trust - has announced Newington is withdrawing from the initiative.
Parent Simon Kelsey, who is also a school governor, said: “Pippa Robinson told me it is a parental responsibility and that the school doesn’t have the time or the facilities to run the scheme.
“She is on a annual salary of £166,000 and has no idea of the deprivation and domestic chaos some of our children face. While we can all agree that parents should look after their children’s teeth, the reality is that some of our children need the order, routine and support that only the school provides in their lives.
“She doesn’t think that a 30-minute visit a couple of times a year is time well spent, not caring about the outcomes of the children in what is one of the most deprived areas of the country where some of our children have never even visited a dentist.
“It’s just wrong that someone on a six-figure salary thinks it is right to ruin the life chances of people in our community.”
Mr Kelsey said the PAT programme was externally funded by the ICB and cost the school nothing.
He added: “There is no cost implication for the school. Sadly, this is just a decision by one person thinking that parents should be the sole providers of care.”
The academy trust’s own published health prevention policy says: “Pupils should know about dental health and the benefits of good oral hygiene and dental flossing, including regular check-ups at the dentist.”
Chris Ayer, principal dentist at the HullDentist pratice in Anlaby Road, said: The programme works with primary schools that do not have any existing oral health provision for supervised toothbrushing, and goes further by offering bi-annual assessments, bi-annual fluoride varnish application and follow up treatment with the participating practice if the child or their family do not have access to a regular dentist.
“The PAT steering group includes public health representation from each of the six local authorities, to ensure that there is joined up working and no duplication of effort to tackle health inequalities.
“Within the last 10 months, 1,905 children have been referred into participating dental practices to receive treatment that they would not have otherwise received without the aid of this programme.
“Parents and siblings of any child referred into a practice will also receive any treatment if required on the NHS. Practices have been able to do this through the move away from just delivering units of dental activity to meet a target.
“It would be a shame for Newington Primary School to leave the programme after two positive years with my practice, HullDentist Surgery, providing this programme for all year groups up to Year 3, and also teaching presentations to Year 4 classes.
“Our recent data has shown we assessed 130 children at Newington in April and from these 46 children were identified as having a dental treatment need. Most of these children are only seen at the school dentist or sadly only brush in the school setting.
“We have requested a meeting with Ms Robinson to discuss the ICB initiative and the importance of the Initiative, but attempts for engagement have been politely declined. It seems the decision is final. Personally I feel this is a huge disappointment.”
The PAT initiative is the latest phase in a long-running effort to improve oral health among children in Hull.
Fifteen years ago a charity called Teeth Team was launched in Hull due to concerns about the extremely high incidence of dental decay in children in the city and surrounding areas.
Previously known as The Brush Bus, it was founded by local dentists including Mr Ayer and Chris Groombridge, managing director the 543 Central Practice in Anlaby Road, and featured a school-based supervised tooth-brushing programme.
In 2017 Teeth Team won a won the first ever ‘Outstanding Innovation’ award from the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry. The award was designed to recognise “excellent work undertaken by dental team members in support of children’s oral health” and the executive panel judged Teeth Team’s “excellent project to be the clear winner”.
A year later Teeth Team presented its annual report in Westminster at an event which included an address by long-time supporter Alan Johnson, the former health secretary and Hull West and Hessle MP.
The charity’s template was adopted by the new NHS Humber and Yorkshire ICB in 2024. It is now a partner in the PAT initiative alongside Hull City Council and East Riding Council of Yorkshire.
According to the ICB: “Significant regional inequalities exist, with children from the most deprived areas 3.5 times more likely to have caries-related tooth extraction than those living in the most affluent communities.
“The highest rates occur here in Yorkshire and Humber - 378 per 100,000 population of 0 to 19-year-olds, compared to a national rate for all England of 205 per 100,000 population of 0 to 19-year-olds.”
Mr Kelsey said he was hoping to raise the issue at a meeting with current Hull West and Haltemprice MP Emma Hardy later this week.
He said: “Only two weeks ago Chris Groombridge and the chair of the ICB met with Stephen Kinnock, the minister of state for health, about this very project which he fully supports as does every single regional MP.
“It is mind boggling that Newington Primary has been withdrawn from the scheme by the executive head of Lift’s northern schools in direct contradiction of Lift’s own policy statement on social mobility and dental hygiene."
Over to you Ms Robinson……..
On the face of it, this seems like another example of how removing the local Council as the Education Authority responsible for schools is detrimental to school pupils’ wellbeing. Headteachers have considerably more autonomy over the running of academy schools which is why this draconian decision can be taken, seemingly with little accountability to anyone. Shameful.