“Getting it right isn't rocket science”

14 September 2015
News
01 January 0001
Volume 31 · Issue 6

The British Dental Association (BDA) has warned the Health Committee that policymakers are failing in their duty to consider the role of oral health in the wider health system, as part of its enquiry into primary care.

Tooth decay is currently the number one reason for hospital admissions among young children. The BDA has pointed that a decline in funding is now unsustainable, and that there remains insufficient clarity on what patients and practitioners can expect from NHS dentistry.

The BDA has warned that red tape, declining incomes and mounting costs could threaten the future of patient care.

Mick Armstrong, chair of the British Dental Association, said:

“Sound oral health rests on effective primary care. If government gets it right it can do right by patients and save the health service millions.

“NHS dentists are currently saddled with red tape and busted regulation. The government talks prevention, but provides opaque structures and payment systems that actively undermine it. Fixing each of these problems is not rocket science – it just requires policymakers to give oral health the attention it deserves.”

Summary

The main points of the BDA’s evidence are:

  • Dentistry and its attendant general health messages and well-being advice must be brought into the NHS mainstream.
  • NHS dentists provide primary oral healthcare which is well regarded by patients.
  • Regulation in dentistry is a problem, with the regulator for the sector, the General Dental Council, not fit for purpose.
  • The Government provides funding to enable only 56 per cent of the population to access NHS dentistry and there has been a reduction in the amount of money spent on NHS dentistry.
  • There needs to be greater clarity for patients about what they can expect to receive from NHS dentistry.
  • Reform of NHS primary care dentistry contracts needs to happen more quickly. We need a contract based on a preventive approach, not discredited units of activity.
  • National commissioning of dentistry has worked better for dentistry than local commissioning. Oral health needs (and dental funding) should be protected in any move towards localised commissioning.
  • Income for practices has declined significantly and further cost pressures threaten the quality of patient care.