Patient Charges Rise By More Than Uplift - Reaction
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- Published: Tuesday, 28 March 2023 19:30
- Written by Peter Ingle
- Hits: 1507
As March draws to a close it is time for the last minute announcement of an increase in NHS patient charges. The NHS has a tradition of giving minimal notice, yet expecting practices to inform their teams and patients, and forcing suppliers to rush out changes to practice management software. Only a few weeks after finally offering contact holders an uplift of just 4.75% , patient charges are to rise by 8.5%.
The band one fee will increase from £23.80 to £25.80, with band two increasing by £5.50. A £24 rise for band 3 will see it break the £300 barrier. It would appear that to add to the hush hush experience, the authorities have now left it to the BDA to inform the profession. The BDA did not hold back. Headed “England: setting the record straight on NHS charge hike” they summed up the latest change: “Ministers are simply making our patients pay more so they can pay less.”
Shaun Charlwood, General Dental Practice Committee Chair did not receive the news well, saying, “This is an utterly grotesque display of priorities from the Treasury.”
As well as providing a downloadable poster that explains the increase to patients, the BDA encouraged dentists to share their frustration on Twitter and Facebook. They did not need much encouragement.
BDA Chair Eddie Crouch was one of many tweeting with a link to the poster and asked dentists to, “Let your patients know that this isn’t your pay rise it’s a tax hike.” Other dentist’s comments included Phil Richards with, “Just so you know. This price rise goes directly to the government, not the practice. The dental practice collecting it will pay credit card fees etc on the collection, but they do not get reimbursed. The treasury gets the lot.” As a Specialist in Special Dental Care Natalie Bradley is no doubt familiar with the knock on effects, as NHS general practice unravels. She tweeted, “whoever gave the green light for this 1. Forgot about the cost of living crisis 2. Clearly doesn’t understand the access issues that ALREADY exist in dental care at the moment. This will not give more funding to NHS dentistry. How poorly timed and out of touch… Meanwhile GDP and BDA board member, Paul Woodhouse named some of those responsible with, “Well played @hmtreasury really putting the final nails in the NHS dental coffin! @Matt_VickersMP @SteveBarclay@NeilDotObrien why are you punishing our patients?”
Not a penny of the latest NHS charge hike will go towards improving services.
— BDA (@TheBDA) March 28, 2023
This #TaxonTeeth will only discourage the patients who need us most.
Let’s set the record straight on who really benefits.
Display the poster & share on social media👇https://t.co/L6KBVR398h
In a written statement Health Minister Neil O’Brien said: "Whilst we recognise the 8.5% uplift value is higher than uplifts to rates of some other government charges, we consider that this is proportionate, as NHS dental patient charges have been frozen since December 2020 whilst other similar charges, such as those for NHS prescriptions, have increased. Dental patients will benefit from the continued provision that this important revenue supports.”
The irrepressible O’Brien went on to repeat the claims that the department has delivered improvements to the NHS dental contract which would improve access, making a point of calling the patient charge increase “this uplift.” Nor could he resist a reference to the new requirement for practices to update their websites at least every 90 days, an achievement of which he appears to be very proud. Which may make sense in the cloistered world of NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care. Not only will patients have more up to date information about the many practices that are unable to see them, but they will have the reassurance of knowing that even if there were capacity, they could not afford to go.
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