IF YOU ARE TRACKING AN ORTHODONTIC REFERRAL, PLEASE SEE THE UPDATED GUIDANCE FROM NHS ENGLAND: HERE

If you are viewing this on a mobile phone please scroll down the page and enter your Unique Reference Number (URN) in the box entitled: “Track a referral”

Your URN was generated by your dentist to allow you to track your referral. If the URN produces a “Not Received” notification – we have not yet received your form.

The system will report when the referral was received by the Referral Service, when it was triaged, what the triage decision was and where the referral was ultimately sent to.  No patient details are provided or stored on this system.

Help with Orthodontic Referral Information

If your referral says “waiting list” on it, the referral is being held on a central waiting list for your area.  Your referral has not yet been sent to an orthodontic practice, and the status will change once the referral has been sent on.  Some examples of what you might see:

Sent to: GM – ACCEPT FOR TREATMENT (WAITING LIST)

Sent to: CWW Orthodontic Waiting List

Sent to: LAN – Orthodontic Waiting List (Routine)

Sent to: Yorkshire – Orthodontic Waiting List 

Sent to: Pennine Hospitals – Waiting List

Sent to: Bolton Royal – Waiting List

Sent to: Tameside General Waiting List (Also for Oldham residents)

Sent to: Stepping Hill (Stockport) – Waiting list

All mean that based on the information on the form, the referral is eligible for orthodontic treatment on the NHS – However these are waiting lists and you cannot contact a provider at this time as your referral has not been sent to one.

Once on these accepted lists the referral is awaiting a space to become available at a primary care (High Street Specialist) orthodontist or at the hospitals who only take a limited number per month. When we reach the referral on the list it will be sent to a provider and their details will show on the tracking information.

Please note: the provider it is sent to ultimately decides if the patient is eligible for NHS orthodontics when they attend the assessment appointment.

Orthodontic waiting times are extensive and the referral centre cannot provide places on the waiting list or specific waiting times. Minimum expected waiting times in many areas are 3 years from date of referral with many patients waiting longer. (see below for details specific to Greater Manchester)

We do not control waiting times and cannot escalate referrals without a clear clinical need being entered on the form by the referring dentist.

We cannot give you an exact indication of waiting times as these are governed by the length of the waiting lists and when the providers can accept referrals. It is not unusual to have had no contact as the referral will need to be sent to a provider (Not a waiting list), as it is them that contact you and arrange assessment appointments, not the referral centre.

Any queries please contact the dentist who referred you.

For Greater Manchester ortho referrals

The clinical need on dental health grounds for NHS Orthodontic care is based on an assessment by a trained dental clinician of each patient’s clinical need, assessed against the nationally agreed criteria called the Index of Treatment Need (IOTN). This allows a standardised approach across the Greater Manchester and ensures there is an agreed process in place to ensure patients with the greatest need for care can be identified on referral and prioritised.

The length of wait for assessment / treatment will depend on how complicated the problem is and the current waiting list size. The current wait in Greater Manchester is around 4 – 4 ½ years.

You can track your referral on the Dental Referral Management Service website using your URN given to you by your dentist (https://dental-referrals.org/dentists/track-a-referral/).

Once you have tracked your referral if it states:

Sent to GM – ACCEPT FOR TREATMENT (WAITING LIST)

This means your referral is on the waiting list and you need to wait a bit longer before it is drawn down by a provider. Once your referral reaches the top of the waiting list and is drawn down by a provider it will show the details of which provider that your referral has been sent to and you can then contact them directly for an update.

We realise that this is a long time, and we hope to be able to reduce this waiting time through access initiatives. We can assure you that as long as you qualify for NHS orthodontic treatment, as assessed by an orthodontist, treatment will be provided on the NHS, regardless of your age when the treatment commences, as long as you were referred by your dentist before the age of 18.

Practices must prioritise their workload to ensure patients who are in treatment, or have an emergency, are being seen first. We have been working with providers to improve the service and those patients who have been waiting a long time or have a high IOTN score are being prioritised on the basis of urgent need.

Access NHS Dental Services (including orthodontics) is a priority in Greater Manchester and we are working with providers to reduce the wait times. Unfortunately, this is a national issue not limited to your area.

We would suggest you discuss any further issues directly with your dentist as they may be able to provide some additional support. They can amend the referral form to urgent, should the dentist consider there is a clinical necessity for this. If there is a concern that the aesthetic orthodontic issues are also detrimental to your oral health, this can be also escalated via the referral form.

 Please be assured that we are continuing to work with all our Orthodontic providers to look at the waiting list and how best we can reduce the waiting times; and that there is a process in place to ensure patients with the greatest need for care are being prioritised.

If the referral states “With Triage” then one of our clinical team is currently assessing your referral.

If the referral states “Sent To” then your referral has been sent to the provider indicated –  If the provider you have been sent to is a hospital, the referrals are sent via secure email and we can only track it as far as the email going to them. The tracker will update no further from that point. You will need to contact them for more information on appointments and waiting times if required.(Please Note: The Referral Centre cannot provide this information; you need to contact the Provider directly)

If the referral states “Rejected” then we have returned the referral to your dentist for more information – Please contact them for additional details as the referral centre cannot give out clinical information.

If the tracking displays additional information like so:

24 Jan 2015, 20:24 – Provider received referral – This indicates that the referral has been passed into the providers system (please note, this does not mean they have opened or read it – Only that they can access it)

25 Jan 2015, 08:26 – Provider accepted referral – This indicates that they have read and accepted the referral and will contact you in due course for an appointment. 

Please note: The above details are examples and do not display data relating to the referral you are tracking.