BDA supports Welsh Tory calls for new funding agreement for NHS dental services
The British Dental Association (BDA) has backed calls from the Welsh Conservatives for a new funding agreement for NHS dental services in Wales.
The BDA suggested that Wales is suffering from the effects of “historic underfunding” in comparison to Scotland and Northern Ireland. Statistics show that government funding in Wales was £47 per person before the pandemic compared with £55 in Scotland and £56 in Northern Ireland.
The Welsh Government has pledged additional funding worth £3 million to provide extra appointments for patients. However, few practices have been able to capitalise on the funds due to soaring demand for treatment. Practices are already overstretched and workforces under intense pressure.
The BDA has warned that an extra £2 million in recurrent funding could follow the same pattern, with practices unable to utilise the money because they don’t have the staff to offer additional appointments. Statistics show that the number of NHS dentists working in Wales has fallen by approximately 8% in the last two years.
Chair of the BDA’s Welsh General Dental Practice Committee, Dr Russell Gidney, said that the system needs “more than a sticking plaster” and added that placing extra demands on dental professionals will “simply stretch an exhausted workforce to breaking point.”
Dr Gidney urged the Welsh Government to support NHS dentists and warned that without urgent action “the service looks set to wither on the vine.”
The Welsh Conservative Party has called for long-term solutions to support NHS dentistry and ease pressure on practices.
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