Increased optimism

The Healthcare Confidence Index was first published in August 2011 and is now in its sixth update. It canvasses opinions of primary healthcare providers; GPs, Dentists and Pharmacists, over one to five years to provide an insight into their attitudes and opinions and levels of confidence.

A combined figure of both the short (12 months) and long-term projections (one to five years) is used to provide a measure of overall business confidence within the primary healthcare sector.

Combined confidence in the profession has increased from a net balance of -18 to -8, which has seen dentists record the most positive result in the history of the Index. This has been driven by a sharp rise in short-term confidence (over the next 12 months), which increased from a positive net balance of 23 to 41.

The survey has indicated a growing appetite among dentists to offer private work, with a quarter (26 per cent) of dentists surveyed now fully private, and four in ten (41 per cent) looking to offer more non-NHS work. This comes as eight out of ten (79 per cent) expressed their doubts that the new NHS contract will be adequately funded, with 62 per cent expecting private dentistry to become more profitable than NHS within five years’ time.