GDPC Chair speaks of concerns over funding and contract reform
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- Published: Wednesday, 17 June 2015 07:51
- Written by News Editor
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Addressing 300 dentists at the conference, the chair of the BDA's General Dental Practice Committee (GDPC), Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen, said there is a huge mismatch between people’s demand for NHS treatment and dentists’ ability to deliver this care, when funding is limited to treating just over half of the population in England.
The GDPC Chair updated the Conference of the slow progress towards implementing GDS contract reform. 100 practices were to start ‘prototype contracts’ in the autumn, with April 2018 being the earliest that there would be any roll out across the profession.
Of the 92 pilots, 63 had been approved to move to prototypes and five did not apply. Henrik expressed his concern over the 24 pilots who had been refused and would have to revert to UDAs. He felt they would struggle to do this.
He also reiterated his concerns about the Department of Health's unwillingness to let go of the discredited activity targets in the proposed remodelling of the contract.? Of the two ‘Blends’ on offer the GDPC favoured Blend B with treatments in UDA Bands 1 & 2 being covered by capitation and Band 3 through UDAs. The committee had pressed for a full capitation contract.
On funding, Henrik said: “The government is keen to promote preventive care, a laudable aim, however, dentistry seems to be the poor relation when it comes to the amount invested in treating current levels of disease, never mind the investment in prevention. Dentists want to treat more patients - and more patients want NHS care - but the profession's hands are tied by the fixed contracts allocated to them by the commissioners who buy dental care. The underfunded service only allows dentists to see 56 per cent of the population over a two year period.”
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