Mr A complained about the dental care provided to him by the Health Board when he was a prisoner at HMP Berwyn. He complained that when he arrived at HMP Berwyn in late 2019 he asked to see a dentist because his tooth had broken, and he was in pain. He was prescribed paracetamol for the pain but did not see a dentist until the summer of 2020. He said that he had complained constantly of pain during that period. Mr A said that when he saw the Dentist, they kept placing temporary fillings which fell out each time within days of placement.
The assessment found that while the Health Board had had an opportunity to respond to Mr A’s concerns regarding the dental treatment received after the first appointment with the Dentist in the summer of 2020, it had not had an opportunity to respond to the concerns about the earlier period of care.
In order to resolve this, the Health Board agreed to undertake an investigation into Mr A’s concerns about the first period of care and to respond to him within 3 months. Should Mr A remain dissatisfied following receipt of the Health Board’s response, it would be open to him to raise any outstanding concerns with the Ombudsman’s office regarding the entire period of care in question.