Despite Increase In Dental School Places, Courses Are Still Oversubscribed. But Will Increasing Dental Student Numbers Solve The NHS Dental Crisis?
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- Published: Tuesday, 17 August 2021 07:47
- Written by Chris Tapper
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Students who have won places to study dentistry are being offered £10,000 to transfer to different universities that haven’t been oversubscribed.
The Guardian reported that dental schools have been oversubscribed due to an increase in a demand for places and far more students than anticipated achieving high grades this year.
The Guardian said “This year 28,690 students applied to study medicine and dentistry, a rise of 21% on last year, according to figures from university admissions service UCAS.”
“Dentistry students have been invited to join the Department for Education’s new “brokerage” scheme, under which medicine and dentistry students can claim £10,000 compensation if they move from an oversubscribed institution to one with space.”
“The Dental Schools Council said the scheme was working well, but dental academics said they expected a very limited supply of spare places.”
The news came a few days after the Gov UK website announced that the cap on medical and dental school places has been adjusted, allowing the allocation of over 9,000 opportunities for prospective students.
GOV UK said “Medical and dentistry schools across England will get additional funding to expand courses for the coming academic year to fulfil more offers for UK students who achieve the required grades.”
“In response to this year’s unprecedented situation, the Government has adjusted the cap on medical and dentistry places so that more students than ever will have the opportunity to study on these courses in 2021, and in the long-term help boost our future NHS workforce.”
But the attempt to ‘boost’ the NHS dental workforce prompted this observation from one veteran dental commentator.
“The problem for NHS dentistry is not training more dentists or importing more dentists, it’s retaining those you have, by making the NHS an attractive place to work.”
In May 2020, the British Dental Association “Urged government to set out a clear route map for reform and relaxation of COVID restrictions” after survey data pointed to an exodus from the NHS as the access crisis continued “With nearly 30 million appointments lost since the first lockdown.”
BDA News said “According to a new survey of dentists in England nearly half (47%) of dentists indicate they are now likely to change career or seek early retirement in the next 12 months should current COVID restrictions remain in place.”
“The same proportion state they are likely to reduce their NHS commitment.”
In February of this year, even the General Dental Council said its own research suggested that the NHS dental service could suffer ‘system-wide overstretching’ as NHS dentists switched to providing private services.
GDPUK reported that in a post analysing the key findings of the GDC’s research into the effects of COVID-19 on dental care, the regulator said its findings indicated “A possible shift by NHS providers to private provision, driven by the need to meet growing costs and to better mitigate the impacts of fallow time in relation to incomes and business costs.”
The Government’s latest announcement said “Applications for medicine and dentistry have increased by 20% this year compared to last year.”
“These courses are traditionally some of the most popular for students but a cap on places ensures standards are maintained and that every student has an appropriate placement and training throughout their studies.”
“For this academic year, universities that can accommodate an increase to medical and dentistry places for students that have met the grades and hold a firm offer at a university with pressure on places will be supported to do so.”
“For these universities that can take on more students that have met the grades whilst also ensuring teaching, learning and assessments standards are maintained, there will be flexibility to add to their numbers.”
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said “Students have worked incredibly hard over the past 18 months and we have continued to put their best interests first to ensure they can progress on to the next stage of their education training or career.”
“Throughout this pandemic our NHS heroes have been at the forefront of the response and their resilience, dedication and perseverance has clearly inspired the next generation.”
“Medicine and dentistry have always been popular courses and we have seen significant demand for places this year alongside other subjects like engineering and nursing. We want to match student enthusiasm and ensure as many as possible can train this year to be the doctors and healthcare professionals of the future.”
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid said “COVID-19 has challenged healthcare staff and students like never before, and our nation has relied on them to keep us and our loved ones safe.”
“As we look beyond the pandemic, it’s incredibly important we safeguard the future of our NHS by ensuring there is a pipeline of high-quality staff to bolster the workforce in the years ahead.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Practice Plan’s ‘2019 DENTISTRY CONFIDENCE MONITOR SURVEY’ found that 61% of dentists working predominantly in the NHS were very anxious about receiving patient complains, compared to 24% of those practitioners working predominantly in the private sector.
The survey also showed that 57% of predominatly NHS dentists were very unhappy with the current NNS contract.
The most alarming statistic came from the question “Do you see yourself operating within the NHS in five years’ time?”
77% of predominantly NHS dentists responded “No.”
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