The British Dental Association has greeted clarity from the Department of Health that fundamental reform will take place before the next election.
In response to questions from the Health and Social Care Committee Minister for Care Stephen Kinnock said “we are absolutely clear we need to fix this before the end of this Parliament…Fundamental contract reform has to happen within this Parliament.”
Echoing comments made by Wes Streeting in January that NHS dentistry was at ‘death’s door’, the Minister acknowledged the need for urgency, stating the service was “on a burning platform.”
The 10 Year Health Plan for England published last week had spelled out that "by 2035, the NHS dental system will be transformed.” The BDA had warned this risked being too late a date to save the struggling service.
Changes put out to consultation by government yesterday have been characterised by the BDA as positive interim measures, but not the systemic change required to restore access to care or provide the service with a sustainable future.
Minister Kinnock stated that the process for fundamental reform would commence once the allocations from the Comprehensive Spending Review are made, by the end of summer at the very latest.
Dentistry is operating on a cash budget that has remained flat since 2010. The BDA has warned that these savage real terms cuts have left typical practices delivering NHS care at a loss, of over £40 for a set of dentures, of over £40 for delivering a set of NHS dentures, and over £7 on a new patient exam. However, in response to questions on resourcing, the Minister stated he should work on the assumption the future budget would be essentially unchanged and insisted “we need to cut our cloth based on the resources that we have.”
In response, a member of the Committee Josh Fenton-Glynn MP rightly challenged the Minister saying “so you’re saying we’re treating this as a burning platform, but we’ve only got buckets of water?”
The Department of Health and Social Care has undertaken a project to measure the cost of care. The BDA stress that this will be a purely academic exercise unless this funding gap is bridged by the Department.
Shiv Pabary, Chair of the British Dental Association’s General Dental Practice Committee said:
“Today the Government set out what’s been missing to date: a deadline to save NHS dentistry.
"But there's still no evidence the resources will be brought to bear to restore care to millions.
“NHS dentistry remains at death’s door. We are ready to work at pace with Ministers to ensure the reform and funding are in place to give this service a future.”