Tough choices

We have a new Government and with it a new opportunity to look at the National Health Service. The backdrop is one of the biggest budget deficits in the world and the need to drastically cut public spending for the foreseeable future.

The new health secretary has already had to comment on the NHS following the Stafford Hospital inquiry. He indicated that he would get rid of the targets for emergency departments. This is in response to the public outcry when it became known that hundreds of people had probably died unnecessarily over a few years.

Dentistry is clearly not high profile as far as safety is concerned but the same target driven culture pervades the NHS dental services. Will Mr Lansley be brave enough to get rid of the perverse target ridden culture and in particular the UDA? 

Where have these targets taken patients in the past few years? It is probably true that a small number of patients have gained access to NHS treatment because some dentists need to take on new patients. On the other hand patients seem to be receiving less treatment. Patients with high treatment need are not being seen and more teeth are being extracted. Many practices do not provide high cost treatments involving lab work at the same rate as they did before the new contracts came into place. Ask your local dental technician how many crowns are now being made.