Think tank recommends limiting dentists′ private work
Imposing a quota on the amount of private work a dentist can do, will improve NHS dentistry access, says the think tank New Local Government Network.
Dentists should be made to spend half their time on NHS patients, it said. It claimed that the restriction would be justified by the high cost – up to £175,000 – to train a dentist.
Nigel Keohane, from the New Local Government Network, said: “Dental patients continue to struggle to find NHS practices with capacity to take them. This limits choice and creates inconvenience for the customer and insufficient supply to meet demand.”
The government is currently reviewing NHS dentistry, following a drop of 1m patients using NHS services now versus before the new contracts were introduced.
The British Dental Association’s Susie Sanderson responded to the think-tank’s criticisms, saying that new contracts had prevented some dentists from taking on more NHS patients.
She said: “In some instances, dentists have either not been awarded NHS contracts at all, or been awarded NHS contracts that are for smaller commitments than they would have liked.”
England’s chief dental officer, Dr Barry Cockroft, maintained that the government will be focussing on new contracts rather than quotas. He said: “We have appointed an independent review team to help us understand what more needs to be done to ensure that every person who wants to visit and NHS dentist can do so and all NHS dental services meet the highest standards of care. We feel that the measures we have taken are a better approach than a quote system for NHS dentists.”
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