Dental access problems reach Jeremy Hunt’s constituency
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- Published: Tuesday, 19 December 2017 07:19
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According to a report in the Mirror dentists in Jeremy Hunt’s constituency are ‘refusing to take new NHS patients’, with three areas in South West Surrey practices being shut to new patients. The BDA blamed years of ‘cuts on the sly’. GDPC chairman Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen told the paper: “The Government is dragging its heels over reform of a system that funds care for half the population.”
The British Dental Association has carried out an analysis which shows that direct spending on NHS dental services from general taxation fell by £261million in real terms from 2006-16 – adjusted for inflation – forcing dentists to limit the number of patients they take on.
The equivalent of just £35 per head was set aside by government to cover dental care for every adult and child in England back in 2006. The BDA analysis has shows spending per head has fallen by £7.50 per head in real terms in the last decade, as Ministers have chosen not to keep pace with inflation or population growth of nearly 5 million.
Dentist leaders have described the funding arrangements as ‘cuts by stealth’, as ministers have paid less, and asked patients to put more into the pot through NHS charges. Revenue drawn from patient charges has gone up by 80% in the same period.
The NHS budget is currently sufficient to cover care for half the English population. Underfunding is now fuelling growing access problems, with a recent Times investigation revealing millions of adult and child patients are now unable to access care – including new patients in 24 English local authorities.
A Department of Health spokesman told the Mirror: “Latest patient survey data shows around three-quarters of patients seeking NHS appointments at a new practice can get one.”
The BDA has called on government to finally deliver on successive manifesto commitments to reform the failed NHS funding system. The current NHS contract effectively sets limits on the number of patients NHS dentists can treat. Dentists are penalised if they don’t hit tough government targets for curative treatments like fillings, but are not allowed to do more even if they have capacity to meet demand.
The BDA’s Chair of General Dental Practice Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen said: “Our patients shouldn’t be clobbered with higher charges simply so government can pull off cuts on the sly. The government is dragging its heels over reform of a system that funds care for barely half the population, and families across England are now paying the price. NHS dentistry shouldn’t be a postcode lottery. We hope that now this problem has arrived at Jeremy Hunt’s door he’ll finally do something about it.”
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