The government has confirmed that NHS dentists will receive a 4% pay rise, which dental experts warn will not cover the rising cost of care.
Announced today (22 May), all NHS staff, including doctors, nurses and dentists, will be awarded above inflation pay rises for a second year. This comes as health secretary Wes Streeting accepted the key pay recommendations from the independent Pay Review Bodies.
As a result, salaried dentists employed directly by the NHS will receive a 4% pay rise, while those working under NHS contracts will see a 4% uplift to the pay element of their contracts.
Doctors and dentists in training will also receive an extra £750 to their pay points, as recommended by the Review Body on Doctors and Dentists Remuneration (DDRB).
Streeting said: ‘These are thoroughly deserved pay rises for all our hard-working nurses, doctors and other NHS staff. We inherited a broken health service with extremely low morale after years of pay erosion and poor industrial relations.
‘Which is why, despite the difficult financial situation the nation faces, we are backing our health workers with above-inflation pay rises for the second year in a row. This government was never going to be able to fully reverse a decade and a half of neglect in under a year, but this year’s pay increases – and last year’s – represent significant progress in making sure that NHS staff are properly recognised for the outstanding work they do.’
The government has confirmed that all pay uplifts will be backdated to 1 April and will appear in pay packets from August.
‘At a loss’
Despite this, the British Dental Association (BDA) warns that a 4% pay rise will do little to cover the rising cost of care or halt the exodus from NHS dentistry. In addition, the increase fails to make up for how much NHS dentists’ pay has dropped in real terms since 2010 – more than 40%, the BDA estimates.
According to the professional body, the recent rise in national insurance contributions and the national living wage are estimated to increase dental practices’ wage bills by 9.5%. It also estimates that a typical practice loses over £40 delivering a set of NHS dentures, and over £7 on a simple new patient exam.
Shiv Pabary is chair of the BDA’s General Dental Practice Committee. He said: ‘On paper dentists are being offered an uplift of 4%. The reality is they won’t see anything like this, unless ministers cover the mounting cost of care.
‘Without real change, practices will remain stuck delivering NHS work at a loss and the exodus from this service will continue.’
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