BDA calls for new contract by 2023 to save NHS dentistry
The British Dental Association (BDA) has urged the government to implement a new NHS dental contract by 2023 to save the service.
Speaking to ministers about the current crisis in NHS dentistry, Shawn Charlwood, chair of the General Dental Practice Committee, said that NHS dentists feel as though they have been ‘chewed up and spat out.’ The current contract does not reward dentists financially and across the country, dentists are feeling frustrated, stressed, exhausted and worried about the future. Figures suggest that 3,000 dentists have already left the NHS and more will follow in the months ahead.
Addressing the Health and Social Care Committee, Mr Charlwood said that dentistry is in a crisis, the likes of which he hadn’t witnessed in the last 35 years. In London, there are five vacancies for every applicant. The problem is not a shortage of dentists, Mr Charlwood explained, but a lack of dentists who want to work for the NHS. Increasingly, dentists are choosing to go private. The BDA committee chair warned that the system is “exacerbated” and used an example of an NHS dentist earning just £9 for a day’s work.
The NHS dental crisis is not just affecting dental professionals. Mr Charlwood said the exodus of dentists from the NHS is directly impacting patients, with more and more people struggling to get appointments. Most are not able to afford private dental care, especially with the cost of living soaring, and DIY dentistry is on the rise.
The BDA first called for an overhaul of the NHS dental contract in 2008 and 14 years later, members claim that there have been no changes despite continued pleas and assurances from ministers. Mr Charlwood warned that the situation will only get worse unless there is urgent action. He urged the government to introduce a new, non-UDA (unit of dental activity) contract by April 2023 “at the latest.”
For more news click here.
Join this Discussion