BDA warns against Pay Cuts

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Representatives of the British Dental Association say that the Department of Health’s 0.5 percent contract increase for dental practitioners in England actually represents a pay cut, which could have detrimental effects for dentists.

The BDA say that they warned the Department of Health that the costs of dental practice are increasing significantly but their concerns have been ignored, as the DOH has announced just a 0.5 percent increase in contract values for the coming year. John Milne, chairman of the British Dental Association’s General Practice Committee said that the increase is simply not large enough to enable dentists to cope with bureaucracy, invest time in promoting good oral health and focus on patient care; Mr Milne said that dentists were under increasing amounts of pressure, as they are being forced to reduce the amount of money they spend due to cutbacks brought about to reduce the deficit.

The Department of Health has also announced measures to promote better oral health amongst children; dentists are being asked to introduce new measures to prevent oral diseases. Mr Milne says that the idea behind the new measure is very positive, but dentists do have the time or the resources to put it into practice. Health ministers have announced that fluoride varnish will be made available for children but the BDA says that the cost of providing this treatment has not been factored into proposed budgets.

The BDA is now calling for the government to address the issues faced by dental practitioners.

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