Along with demands for contractual reform, increasing the numbers of dentists has become a favourite solution for the access crisis. With an estimated 3000 dentists leaving the NHS in the space of two years, and practice owners struggling to recruit, attracting dentists to the UK has become a priority.
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Only days apart, two significant announcements about Scottish dentistry have illustrated the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.
Read more: Confidence In Scottish Dental Market But BDA Concerned
The publication of the government policy paper “A plan for digital health and social care” may make uneasy reading for GDP’s. Despite this it is likely to be a good indicator of priorities for the Health Service and reform, in the next few years.
Lest for a moment you thought that the crisis affecting NHS dentistry was largely confined to England and Wales, a report on UTL Live (ITN News) on Friday 24th June made clear in stark terms that NHS Dentistry in the province is ‘not a sustainable model’.
Read more: NHS Dentistry In Northern Ireland Branded ‘Unsustainable’
“From 1 July, NHS dentists have to pretend they’ve returned to ‘business as usual” Dr Shawn Charlwood has told the profession.
Read more: Ready For New NHS Targets? No? Then Just “Pretend”
Fear of litigation is a recurrent fear across the dental profession, with many older, experienced dentists resigned to believing that it’s not a question of ‘if’ they will be the victim of a legal case against them, but ‘when’.
Read more: Patient Complaints Are A Particular Worry For Young Dentists
The recent Westminster Health Forum policy conference, ‘Priorities for dentistry in England - contract reform, professional regulation, integrated oral healthcare, training and education, and post-pandemic recovery and support’, may not have registered in many UK practices.
Many dentists will not have heard of Professor Rebecca Harris. She is the Professor of Dental Public Health at the University of Liverpool, and Honorary Consultant in Dental Public Health, Liverpool University Hospitals. But that is not all. Following a mixed academic and NHS career she is now providing clinical leadership on Dental System Reform in England in her capacity as Deputy Chief Dental Officer.
“Finding a dentist in Lincolnshire is like finding the Holy Grail” an MP told fellow Members of Parliament at the Commons yesterday.