After stating that 112,000 additional dental appointments will be available this financial year, the BDA has urged the Welsh government to correct this ‘misleading’ claim.
The BDA has urged the Welsh government to correct its claims surrounding NHS dental appointment availability.
This comes after the Welsh government stated that 112,000 extra dental appointments had been secured by recent reforms.
The press release, published on 6 January this year, stated: ‘The Welsh government expects an estimated 112,000 new NHS patient appointments will be possible this financial year.’
In response, however, the BDA has called these claims ‘misleading’ and has urged the Welsh government to correct them.
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Cooking the books
BDA Wales has stressed that the reality of this data is new patients. This comes after ministers made dentists prioritise seeing new patients by giving healthier patients less frequent check-ups.
As a result, BDA Wales has warned that the data ‘cannot disguise the Welsh government’s unwillingness to invest in NHS services and provide access for all.’
This comes after the number of patients seen by NHS dentists in Wales has failed to return to pre-Covid-19 levels.
Russell Gidney, chair of the British Dental Association’s Welsh General Dental Practice Committee, said: ‘The Welsh government is cooking the books on patient numbers.
‘Ministers haven’t created 100,000 extra appointments but simply moved the goalposts.
‘The fact is, for every new patient seen, a dozen historic patients could lose access to dentistry. This is all that’s possible when we fail to meaningfully invest in frontline services.’
The press release also mentioned the Welsh government’s pledge of £2 million in additional funding.
Eluned Morgan, the minister for health and social services, said: ‘We want everyone in Wales to be able to access NHS dental care, if they want it.
‘From this year, we’re providing an additional £2 million a year to support increasing access to dental services throughout Wales.’
However, dental leaders have stated that this £2 million pledge ‘will barely scrape the sides’ due to increasing inflation.
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