Review of NHS Dentistry by the Department of Health
According to the Department of Health the 2006 dental contract, which has been widely criticised is to be replaced.
A new system will be piloted in the autumn in selected dental practices. The existing 3 bands will be divided up into considerably more (between 5 and 12 bands – to be decided) so gone will be the old problem of a dentist being paid the same for one filling as for 4 fillings. Much of the dentist’s income will come from the amount of NHS patients on their registers and less will come from the actual work undertaken which will encourage dentists to take on more NHS patients. It is hoped that this will mean that dentists will encourage patients to look after their teeth and adopt good oral health.
Under the new system any poor dental work, such as fillings that fall out, would have to be replaced at the dentists own expense. So it is hoped this will discourage poor work.
This is the way it should be
Probably the most common sense idea regarding NHS dentistry to come from the DOH for a little while
If you divide the total NHS dental funding by the number of people in the country, it comes out as £40 per person per year.
No matter which way you look at it, £40 doesn’t buy a lot when a surgery runs at £120 per hour and more.
Without massive increases in the total level of funding (very unlikely) there is no chance of comprehensive dental care under the NHS. The new scheme will just be another costly exercise in “re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic”