Wes Streeting, the new Secretary of State for Health & Social Care today (Monday 8th July) honoured his promise, made before the general election, to meet with representatives of the British Dental Association (BDA) to discuss reforming the NHS dental contract.
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Wes Streeting, now confirmed as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has kept his promise of offering the BDA an early meeting to discuss NHS dentistry. It is no secret that both parties see alternatives to the UDA contract as a means of improving the availability of NHS dentistry. But that alone will not be enough to “fix” things.
Read more: What Is Needed From The Health Secretary? Indemnifiers' View
Over recent years, the news and forum pages of GDPUK have chronicled the perilous state of NHS dentistry across many regions of the UK. Week in, week out, we’ve heard of practices returning their contracts, of patients resorting to going abroad, not for whitening and veneers, but for the ’basics’. Of practices closing because they can’t recruit the clinicians and staff they need. And in some cases, closing because their income simply does not cover their expenditure.
Read more: Not Just Dentistry: The Scale Of The Problem Confronting The New Government
If everything goes to plan for Wes Streeting, by Monday 8th July 2024 he will be Minister of State for Health and Social Care. It will be a busy day, but he has already spoken about one of the things on his ‘to do’ list: “So we’re going to have to negotiate a new dentistry contact. I’ve committed to getting the BDA in on the Monday after the general election if we win because I see it as that big a priority.”
Two days before a general election the GDC have quietly announced a change to one much criticised aspect of their Fitness to Practice process.
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Few dentists have not had to ’pick up the pieces’ for patients who have presented with post operative issues following cosmetic dental treatment undertaken abroad. Patients enticed by ’packages’ offering ’eight veneers from £1600’ regularly surface on consumer affairs programmes.
Read more: Health Tourism: Medics' Concerns Mirror Dentists'
The boss of the Care Quality Commission, Ian Trenholm, has left the organisation. The regulator announced on June 25th that Mr Trenholm had signalled his intention to resign as Chief Executive ’at the end of the month’. It is understood his last working day was Friday 28th June.
The rules of supply and demand should be fairly simple, but they fail to explain the results of a recent survey by Which? magazine.
Governments and health providers, understandably, like simple solutions. They can be low cost, easy to set up, staff and run. As a bonus, a general public with short attention spans are more likely to understand and appreciate them than more complex or nuanced offerings. This might explain the renewed focus on tooth brushing in schools, with two new stories showing that rolling out brushing instruction is becoming an on-trend dental public health activity.
Read more: Toothbrushing, Easy Political Answer or Meaningful Prevention?