Every respondent to a recent survey of MPs agreed that the current NHS dental contract needs to change. The problem? Only 12 of the UK’s 650 MPs responded at all.
The LDC Confederation’s MP Attitudes towards NHS Dentistry survey found that nine of 12 MPs considered their oral health to be very important to them. Eight gave the availability of NHS dentistry in their constituencies the lowest possible score, with half using private dental care themselves.
Nine MPs said constituents had contacted them about difficulties finding dental care, and 10 felt that current NHS dental access rates of 40% for adults and 57% for children were unacceptable.
Despite the unanimous agreement of the 12 MPs that dental contract reform is needed, the silence of the other 98% speaks to how little parliamentary engagement the survey was able to capture.
The British Dental Association (BDA) recently called out the ‘radio silence’ on dentistry in health secretary Yvette Cooper’s Labour Party conference speech. Chair Eddie Crouch said the lack of clarity ‘gives little hope to a demoralised profession or the millions struggling to access care’.
What action are MPs taking on dental care?
In March, the government pledged ‘to fundamentally reform the dental contract by the end of this Parliament’. However, since taking over the dentistry brief in August, undersecretary for health James Frith has yet to lay out a timetable or detailed plan for this long-term contract reform.
In recent discussions on the topic of NHS dentistry, he has reiterated Labour’s previous changes such as the introduction of an NHS tie-in for dental graduates and the allocation of 50 new dental school places – but no information has been shared about the government’s plans for dentistry during the remainder of its term.
This week, we have seen the government suggest that any pay award above 2.4% for NHS dentists in England would have to come from existing health budgets. Prime minister Andy Burnham also placed social care at the centre of the government’s health agenda at the recent Labour Party conference.
With only 2% of MPs responding to the survey, the findings cannot truly be seen to represent the government’s view. But against the backdrop of competing financial demands in healthcare, it does underline the outstanding question of whether Labour has the time or budget to deliver the necessary reform of NHS dentistry within its term.
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