Row erupts over funding for dental services in Wales
A row has erupted over funding for dental services in Wales.
As part of a £1.3m funding injection for NHS dentistry in Wales, Cardiff and Vale Health Board and Aneurin Bevan will receive £450,000 and £300,00 respectively to create 10,000 extra dental places. Vaughan Gething, health secretary, claimed that the move was part of a £1.3 million national boost to improve services in Wales. However, the British Dental Association claims that the investment represents “creative accounting” and the figure is a quarter of the sum dedicated to dentistry in the 2016 budget.
The BDA claims that cash has been taken out of the budget as a result of some dentists failing to hit their targets, but not reinvested.
When quizzed about cash being removed from dental services in Wales, Mr Gething said that the conversation about the NHS dental contract was “ongoing” and that there would “never be a time when resources would be perfect.”
Chair of the BDA in Wales’ general dental committee, Katrina Clarke, accused the government of using the dental budget to balance government books and said that people are being short-changed when it comes to NHS dental services. She stated that “creative accounting” is not the same as investment, and pushed the government to act now to fund initiatives that would improve standards of oral health across Wales.
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