The minister of state for care did not promise a ‘decisive break’ with the current UDA system – but said a timeframe for contract reform is coming.
Stephen Kinnock appeared remotely at this year’s Annual Conference of LDCs (Local Dental Committees), taking place today (5 June) in Newcastle. According to the conference panel, he is the first care minister to appear at the LDC event in 20 years.
In his speech to the audience, he said the government is ‘committed to reforming the dental contract’ to focus on the retention of NHS dentists.
He said: ‘We are not sitting on our hands while we wait for reform to happen.’
He pointed at a number of initiatives that are already being rolled out to improve dental care, including 700,000 urgent dental appointments and supervised toothbrushing, adding: ‘The system must prioritise prevention.’
Focusing on the expansion of water fluoridation, he said: ‘I am pleased to see this commitment firmly embedded among broader public health agenda.’
Contract reform ‘a complex issue’
The minister also had a number of questions put to him, one of which queried if the government could commit to a ‘decisive break’ with the current UDA system.
He did not comment, but recalled conversations in which the UDA was called a ‘treadmill’ and ‘straitjacket’, adding: ‘We’ve got to find something that gets the balance right between quality, access and incentive.
‘We cannot have a situation where demand is through the roof but millions of contract money is being handed back. We’ve got to change that.’
When asked for a timetable for reform, he said: ‘It is a complex issue with no perfect payment system. We’d be wrong to rush like a bull at a gate.’
He pointed out that a comprehensive spending review set for publication next Wednesday will allow him ‘to put some extra welly into negotiations’.
‘We will be announcing a timeframe in due course. We will be moving as rapidly as we can and engaging as deeply as we can with the BDA (British Dental Association)… I will be coming back with an announcement as soon as possible.’
He added that he remains committed to his continuous engagement with the BDA.
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