REFORM

The Covid-19 Pandemic shut down many parts of the NHS altogether and only the most dedicated cult worshipper would oppose the necessary reform.  Dentistry should be first in the queue requiring the irrigation of a “Dental Desert” to bring more fertile conditions. It is time to bring choice t the consumer where none exists and cease the public pandering at election times with blood curdling threats of “privatizing the NHS” – Dentistry has aways remained in the private sector. De-weaponising the political nature of the NHS would be a really good start.

The burgeoning Waiting Lists stretch far into the distant future and the eye-watering sums of money required to remedy the backlog of chronic illness pose a real threat to our national health and our economy.  Providing sufficient financial resource is one thing, but how about the professionally qualified human resources for another? The NHS State Monopoly must end and like many other Countries the private health sector needs to be mobilized to bring additional competitive funding and freedom of choice into healthcare and the treatment of illness. The two sectors should unite in a symbiotic relationship to create a National Health and Wellness Service (NHWS).

Many people know of the impossibility of obtaining high quality dental care free of charge and large numbers of parents are aware of the high cost of the private sector service. Indeed in the last two decades the profession has voted with its feet and the ratio of NHS to private spending on Dentistry has shifted dramatically from more than 95% being under an NHS Contract in 1990 to less than 50% today. To a complete stranger, reading through “Improving Dental Care – a Call to Action” published by NHS England (8) leaves a strong impression that more than 70 years of State funded dentistry have been completely wasted and some “new” bright ideas for a brand new concept for delivering dental care to the community in the future are the answer!  “How can we support dental services in providing a preventative focused practice” is asked? NHS Dental Contracts with Oral Hygiene Clinics might be a good place to start offering NHS Oral Healthcare Passports for Children.

The NHS has a duty of care to include guaranteed universal dental benefits in future and now is the time to detemine what these dental benefits should be Dental X-Roads

Any new NHS Dental Contract will no doubt follow the traditional principle of a fixed annual budget for dentistry and therefore priorities must be given to the provision of a Childrens Dental Passport and basic emergency services for everyone free of charge. The addition of patient charges for adult treatment will no doubt be means tested and linked with any additional forms of dental treatment on a grant-in-aid basis.