NHS Dental Appointment Attendance Data

Summary

The requester asked for NHS dental appointment attendance data and preference fulfillment statistics for patients allocated between May 2025 and January 2026. Manx Care refused the request under Section 11(3)(a) stating the information is not held, as attendance records are maintained by individual dental practices rather than the central authority.

Key Facts

• Manx Care does not hold patient appointment or attendance data, which is the responsibility of individual dental practices.
• Manx Care only collects data necessary for the waiting list, such as name, contact details, date of birth, and patient preferences.
• An audit is scheduled for April 2026 to verify that newly allocated patients received their initial examination by 31 March 2026.
• The total number of patients allocated to dental practices increased to 6,909 for the period from May 2025 to the end of January 2026.
• Of the allocated patients, 445 (6%) stated a preferred dental practice.

Data Disclosed

• 6,469
• 1 May 2025
• 12 January 2026
• 6 February 2026
• 17 February 2026
• April 2026
• 31 March 2026
• 6,909
• 445
• 6%

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Information not held)

Original Request

Dear Manx Care FOI Team, Following my previous Freedom of Information request (FOI reference 5223621) regarding NHS dental allocation and patient choice, I am now requesting additional information under the Freedom of Information Act 2015. For the period 1 May 2025 to 12 January 2026 (or the latest available data within this range), please provide the following: Of the 6,469 patients allocated to an NHS dental practice, how many have actually attended at least one appointment with their allocated dentist? Of those attending at least one appointment, how many were: a) Seen at their stated preferred dental practice b) Seen within their stated preferred geographical area c) Seen outside any stated preference If any of this information is not held, please specify: Which information is not held The reason it is not held Please confirm whether responsibility for holding this information rests with Manx Care, DHSC, or both, and provide the response in a format suitable for analysis.

Data Tables (1)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

Manx Care Noble’s Hospital, Strang Braddan, Isle of Man IM4 4R (01624) 650 000

Our ref: 5285945 17 February 2026

Dear

We write further to your request received 6 February 2026, which states:

"Dear Manx Care FOI Team,

Following my previous Freedom of Information request (FOI reference 5223621) regarding NHS dental allocation and patient choice, I am now requesting additional information under the Freedom of Information Act 2015.

For the period 1 May 2025 to 12 January 2026 (or the latest available data within this range), please provide the following:

Of the 6,469 patients allocated to an NHS dental practice, how many have actually attended at least one appointment with their allocated dentist?

Of those attending at least one appointment, how many were:

a) Seen at their stated preferred dental practice

b) Seen within their stated preferred geographical area

c) Seen outside any stated preference

If any of this information is not held, please specify:

Which information is not held

The reason it is not held

Please confirm whether responsibility for holding this information rests with Manx Care, DHSC, or both, and provide the response in a format suitable for analysis."

Response

S11 (3)(a) While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Manx Care is unable to provide the information you have requested. This is in line with section 11(3)a of the Act, as a practical refusal reason applies; namely we do not hold or

cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested.

Manx Care does not hold the information you have requested. However, we are happy to provide further context.
Manx Care holds the NHS Dental Waiting list and only collects the information it requires for that purpose e.g. to be able to successfully transfer patients from the waiting list to a dental provider (name, contact details, DOB). Manx Care also records if a patient gives a preference in area or practice for allocation, as we will allocate to the patient’s preference whenever it is possible to do so. Once a patient is allocated from the waiting list to a dental practice, we then await feedback from the dental practice to confirm they have accepted the patient onto their practice list. Once the practice confirms acceptance of the patient, no further action from Manx Care is required, as it has fulfilled its purpose of the task of allocating from the waiting list.
Each dental practice is responsible for holding patient information, which includes appointment and attendance information. This is data held by the practice, and as such, this information is not readily available to Manx Care, unless there was a reason to specifically request it from each provider. As part of the waiting list allocations to dental providers in 2025, Manx Care have already communicated to dental providers that it will be carrying out an audit in April 2026 to check that the new patients allocated received their initial examination appointment at the practice by 31 March 2026. This will likely be a sample number of patients per practice and will involve a member of staff from Manx Care attending each practice to carry out the audit. We will publish the results of this audit. We can confirm that the number of unique patients being seen at the dental practices has increased substantially, which indicates that patients are being seen.
As the requestor has identified that this FOI is an additional request following the previously responded to FOI (Reference: 5223621), we would like to take this opportunity to clarify that the response we gave in numbers previously was based on the patients who had been accepted by the practices (guaranteed and finalised allocations). Therefore, making a calculation between this figure and the overall allocated number of patients does not give the true percentage outcome, as final accepted allocations information from practices is still awaited. In addition to Manx Care’s previous response (FOI Reference 5223621) we can clarify that from May 2025 up to the end of January 2026 (we reported mid-month in the last response) the number of patients allocated to dental practices by Manx Care has now increased for the period to 6,909 (as we have received further information back on accepted patients from practices). Of this figure: -
445 (6%) patients stated a preferred dental practice (where a patient has stated a preferred practice the associated preferred region is also recorded – however, the number of patients who specify a particular practice remains low as patients tend to give preference of region only)
231(52%) patients who stated a preferred practice have been accepted by their preferred practice (further acceptance information is still awaited)

Additionally: -
4,885 (71%) patients stated a preferred region for allocation (this includes those stating a preferred practice)
4,795 (98%) patients have been accepted by a practice in their preferred region.
Appreciation needs to be given to the fact that not all dental practices have taken new patients, so there may not be the ability for Manx Care to allocate patients to a preferred practice; or if a preferred practice has already been allocated their quota of new patients then Manx Care are unable to allocate more until the practice has had opportunity to cleanse their NHS patient lists and offer more new patient places. Patients will be offered an alternative allocation when it is possible to do so. There is no formal registration process or catchment area for dental allocations. Some patients prefer to be allocated to a practice closer to home, and others a practice closer to their place of work.
The dental waiting list changes daily with additions to the list, allocations made and backfills for unaccepted patient allocations (patients are unaccepted onto dental practice lists for a number of reasons, including that the patient allocated cannot be contacted, patient is deceased, patient has moved off-island or, there had been a previous breakdown in relationship between practice and patient).
We trust this additional information is helpful.

Please quote the reference number 5285945 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision.

More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely