NHS dentistry in Scotland has ‘escaped imminent collapse’ following new support form the Scottish government.
The Scottish government has announced plans to support NHS dentistry in the coming months.
This comes after the dental profession called on the Scottish government to act fast and fix the ‘broken system’ that is fuelling inequalities in NHS dentistry.
As a result of this support, the British Dental Association (BDA) has said that NHS dentistry in Scotland has been ‘reprieved’ and ‘escaped imminent collapse’.
This ‘vital’ support includes extending the 1.1 interim ‘bridging’ payment, which was originally due to lapse on 1 April this year.
The Scottish government said this will support NHS dentists to ‘deliver the high quality and greatly valued NHS dental care to your patients.’
Dentistry’s top stories
- Dental nurse struck off for possession of an indecent photo of child
- Interest rates increase to 4% – how will this impact dentistry?
- Why money alone won’t fix NHS dentistry
- Dental profession calls out harmful aligners
- Rishi Sunak claim that UK has ‘more NHS dentists’ since new contract changes is a ‘grotesque misrepresentation.
Despite this new support, BDA Scotland stress a new sustainable model must be in place by 31 October ‘otherwise the extension will only delay the inevitable’.
In addition, BDA Scotland has said that NHS dentistry in Scotland is far from returning to business as usual. For example, practices are already running the risk of providing treatment at a loss if it involves laboratory work.
As well as this, recent data has shown that claims submitted by NHS dentists for dental work are 43% down from 2019 levels. This suggests a ‘growing exodus from the NHS workforce’, BDA Scotland said.
Needed progress
David McColl, chair of the British Dental Association’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee said: ‘This is needed progress.
‘We told the Scottish government that pulling the plug on these payments would be a body blow to this service.
‘What’s needed now is real reform to a broken system.
‘There can be no more kicking the can down the road – a sustainable model must be in place come October.’
This comes after figures from Public Health Scotland showed that contact with a dentist within the past two years continues to fall.
In September 2022, only 50.4% of all registered patients had seen an NHS dentist within the last two years. This is down from 52.6% in 2021. It is also a considerable reduction from almost two thirds (65.1%) in 2020.
Follow Dentistry.co.uk on Instagram to keep up with all the latest dental news and trends.
