The future of NHS dentistry lays in the hands of Downing Street, the Treasury and the Department of Health.
This is according to the British Dental Association (BDA) following the election of Liz Truss as the new Conservative Party leader and UK Prime Minister.
The association says that changes made to to the contract in the summer ‘do nothing to improve access or halt the exodus of dentists from the NHS’. It points out there was also no additional funding provided.
Recent BBC research reveals that nine in 10 practices cannot take on new adult NHS patients.
In Liz Truss’s constituency base of Norfolk this figure stands at 100%. The same applies in Suffolk, home to Therese Coffey, the new Deputy PM and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
In Surrey, home to now Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, the figure stands at 93%.
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Few options left
BDA Chair Eddie Crouch said: ‘These three politicians will determine whether NHS dentistry has a future.
‘Like millions of others, their constituents have few options. To save this service the new residents of Number 10, the Treasury, and the Department of Health must act now.
‘The PM said action on the access crisis would be a top priority. After a decade of savage cuts any progress requires real reform and fair funding.’
Drop in access
Only one third of adults accessed NHS dental care in the last two years, new figures revealed last month.
Just 34% accessed NHS dental care in the 24 months to 31 March – with the number of children seen in the last year standing at 44.8%.
This compares to 49.6% for adults and 58.7% for children in the last full year before the pandemic.
In 2021 – 22, just 26.4 million courses of NHS dental treatment were delivered. This is just two thirds (67%) of the average volumes delivered annually in the five years before the pandemic.
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