FOI-03739

<p><span data-contrast="none">Thank you for your request for information about the following:</span><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><strong><span data-contrast="none"><span data-ccp-charstyle="normaltextrun" data-ccp-charstyle-defn="{&quot;ObjectId&quot;:&quot;ac0262f4-8a9e-5820-b908-2d943c5f7113|1&quot;,&quot;ClassId&quot;:1073872969,&quot;Properties&quot;:[469777841,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,469777842,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,469777843,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,469777844,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,469769226,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,469775450,&quot;normaltextrun&quot;,201340122,&quot;1&quot;,134233614,&quot;true&quot;,469778129,&quot;normaltextrun&quot;,335572020,&quot;1&quot;,469778324,&quot;Default Paragraph Font&quot;]}">Request</span></span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">You asked us:</span><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><em><span data-contrast="auto">Under the Freedom of Information&nbsp;Act&nbsp;I am requesting the following information from&nbsp;National&nbsp;Community Dental Service (CDS) Waiting List data collection.</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<ol>
<li><em><span data-contrast="auto"> List the names of providers offeringi) routine services ii) sedation services and iii) generalanaesthetic&nbsp;services for the most recent complete data collection.</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></li>
</ol>
<ol start="2">
<li><em><span data-contrast="auto"> Provide national figures for waiting times fori) children ii) adults and iii) all patients for both a) assessment and b) treatment fori) routine services ii) sedation services and iii) general&nbsp;anaesthetic&nbsp;services by the following breaks:</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></li>
</ol>
<p><em><span data-contrast="auto">-Total number of patients waiting for treatment</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><em><span data-contrast="auto">-Total number of patients waiting 0-1 weeks (0-7 days)</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><em><span data-contrast="auto">-Total number of patients waiting 1-2 weeks (8-14 days)</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><em><span data-contrast="auto">-Total number of patients waiting 2-4 weeks (15-28 days)</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><em><span data-contrast="auto">-Total number of patients waiting 4-12 weeks (29-84 days)</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><em><span data-contrast="auto">-Total number of patients waiting 12-18 weeks (85-126 days)</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><em><span data-contrast="auto">-Total number of patients waiting 18-52 weeks (127-364 days)</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><em><span data-contrast="auto">-Total number of patients waiting over 52 weeks (over 365 days)</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<ol start="3">
<li><em><span data-contrast="auto"> Please also provide the same figures broken down by each provider.</span></em></li>
</ol>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on&nbsp;13 April 2026.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">We have handled your request under the&nbsp;Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><strong><span data-contrast="none"><span data-ccp-charstyle="normaltextrun">Our response</span></span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">We have considered this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and are issuing a refusal notice under section 17 of the FOIA.&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">The NHSBSA holds&nbsp;the requested information&nbsp;you have requested. However, we consider that this information is exempt from disclosure under section 22 of the FOIA, which applies to&nbsp;information&nbsp;which&nbsp;is intended for future publication.&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">The Information Commissioner&rsquo;s Office&nbsp;(ICO)&nbsp;guidance states&nbsp;that, for section 22 to apply,&nbsp;&ldquo;the public authority must, at the time of the request, hold the information and intend that it or &ldquo;any other person&rdquo; will publish it in future. This means that it must have a &ldquo;settled expectation that the information will be published at some future date&rdquo;.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">On behalf of NHS England, NHSBSA are collecting the amended monthly Community Dental Services (CDS) Waiting List Data Collection (WLDC), beginning&nbsp;from&nbsp;August 2025.&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">On 5 August 2025,&nbsp;NHS England&nbsp;issued a letter&nbsp;which confirms&nbsp;a settled intention to collect and publish national Community Dental Service waiting list data.&nbsp;You can view the letter at the link below:</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-community-dental-service-cds-waiting-list-collection-letter/#national-community-dental-service-cds-waiting-list-collection"><span data-contrast="none"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">NHS England &raquo; National Community Dental Service (CDS) waiting list collection: letter</span></span></a><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">The letter&nbsp;establishes&nbsp;a formal, mandatory national data collection&nbsp;and confirms that the collection is intended to align&nbsp;with routinely published NHS waiting list datasets.&nbsp;Please note that there is not a&nbsp;set&nbsp;date&nbsp;for publication currently.&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">In applying this exemption, we have balanced the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in&nbsp;disclosing&nbsp;the information.&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">Please see the&nbsp;below&nbsp;factors in&nbsp;favour&nbsp;of maintaining the exemption, and&nbsp;those&nbsp;in&nbsp;favour&nbsp;disclosure of the information. </span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><strong><span data-contrast="auto">Considerations for disclosure:</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:1080,&quot;335559991&quot;:720,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">public accountability&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:1080,&quot;335559991&quot;:720,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">the need for public authorities to be transparent in&nbsp;their dealings&nbsp;and performance</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></li>
</ul>
<p><strong><span data-contrast="auto">Considerations against disclosure:&nbsp;</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:1080,&quot;335559991&quot;:720,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">the National CDS Waiting list collection is ongoing and&nbsp;the&nbsp;dataset&nbsp;is not&nbsp;yet&nbsp;finalised</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:1080,&quot;335559991&quot;:720,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">the information is intended for future publication once&nbsp;the collection, validation and quality assurance is&nbsp;finalised</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:1080,&quot;335559991&quot;:720,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">the information is therefore&nbsp;subject&nbsp;to&nbsp;change&nbsp;as part of those processes</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:1080,&quot;335559991&quot;:720,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="4" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">there is a&nbsp;public interest in not&nbsp;disclosing&nbsp;information which could be misleading&nbsp;or incomplete,&nbsp;and&nbsp;early disclosure&nbsp;may not accurately reflect the final&nbsp;release</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:1080,&quot;335559991&quot;:720,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="5" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">publication following completion of validation and assurance supports consistency,&nbsp;context&nbsp;and reliability in the final published dataset</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:1080,&quot;335559991&quot;:720,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="6" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">withholding the information until publication supports the orderly release of a complete, national dataset, ensuring it is accessible and understandable to all users on an equal basis&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></li>
</ul>
<p><strong><span data-contrast="none">Conclusion:</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">We consider that the advantage to releasing this information now (rather than upon the planned publication) is outweighed by the potential prejudice to the completeness and consistency of the data provided.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">Please see the following link to view the section 22 in full -</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/22"><span data-contrast="none"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/22</span></span></a><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}">&nbsp;</span></p>

Tags: NHS Dental Services
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log