Dentists have warned that new ‘marginal’ changes to the NHS dental contract do not go far enough in ending the current crisis.
NHS England has revealed tweaks to the current contract in the face of mounting access troubles.
But the British Dental Association (BDA) argue that the contract ‘still only funds care for little over half the population’ and maintains ‘perverse incentives to dentists’.
Changes include:
- A ‘find a dentist’ website. Practices will now be legally compelled to update NHS.uk regularly with details on the availability of appointments
- A higher reward for treating three or more teeth. Dentists will now receive five Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) for treating three or more teeth, an increase on the former level of three UDAs, which applied to care delivered to any number of teeth
- A new payment rate for complex treatment. Root canal treatment on molar teeth will now be rewarded with seven UDAs, as opposed to three – the result of BDA lobbying.
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Demoralised dentists
The BDA argues that the changes will do little to make a positive impact.
For example, it points out that the ‘find a dentist’ website offers no appointments. It adds that: ‘Patients now requiring as many as 20 fillings, perversity will remain baked into the system, with less complex work still being rewarded at the same rate as treatments that can take hours’.
Shawn Charlwood is chair of the British Dental Association’s general dental practice committee. He said: ‘Minsters have done little more than rearrange the deckchairs. These minor tweaks will not end the access crisis or give demoralised dentists any reason to stay in the NHS.
‘It’s one thing to offer a shiny new website showing patients they can’t get an appointment. It’s quite another to put in place reform and funding so millions can get the care they need.’
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