The British Dental Association (BDA) has said the success of reform in NHS dentistry will hinge on appropriate funding. It follows comments by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting that across the NHS, “reform is more important than investment.”
The BDA welcomed recent Labour commitments on reform but has stressed meaningful change to improve patient access and halt the exodus of dentists from the NHS will need to be underpinned by appropriate investment.
While £111m has been pledged for 700,000 urgent care appointments and supervised brushing, there is no indications yet of what resources would be brought to bear to break with the discredited NHS contract dentists work to.
Whitehall Dental Practice in Devon announced its intention to return its NHS contract this week. The practice said the provision of "loss-making, underfunded NHS dental care" could no longer be sustained. In March, Bupa Dental Care set out plans to close, sell or merge 85 dental practices in the UK due to increased costs and workforce problems.
In his speech to the conference, Labour leader Keir Starmer noted, “We must be the government that finally transforms our NHS. We can’t go on like this with a sickness service. We need an NHS that prevents illness.” The BDA are calling on all parties to sign up to the recent recommendations of the Health and Social Care Committee, and provide the reform and resources necessary to make the service prevention-focused and patient-centred.
Shawn Charlwood, chair of the British Dental Association’s General Dental Practice Committee, said, “We cannot run a health service on goodwill alone, and dentists delivering NHS care at a loss are already walking away.
“Wes Streeting says reform is more important than investment. NHS dentistry will need both if it’s going to have a future.”