Britain boosts dentists with cash to ease shortage
LONDON: Dentists in England will receive cash to accept new patients amid a critical shortage of state-funded dental care, the UK’s public health authority said on Wednesday. The plan, backed by £200 million ($235 million) of government funding, comes as the number of dentists providing care in the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) stands at its lowest level in a decade.
The British Dental Association says around 12 million people are currently looking for an NHS dentist providing free care as increasing numbers of practitioners turn their backs on the NHS in favor of more lucrative private practice. According to OECD data, the UK has 49 dentists per 100,000 inhabitants — the lowest rate among G7 countries.
“The health service will now introduce a wide range of practical measures to help make it easier for people to see a dentist, from incentivizing dentists to take on new patients, to supporting dentists to be part of the NHS in areas where access is challenging,” NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said. Under the plan public dentists will be given a “new patient” payment of between £15-£50 to treat around a million new patients who have not seen a public dentist in two years or more.
Around 240 dentists will be offered one-off payments of up to £20,000 for working in under-served areas for up to three years. New ways of delivering care in rural and coastal areas would be rolled out, including launching “dental vans”, to help reach isolated communities. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the plan would help cut waiting lists and put NHS dentistry “on a sustainable footing for the long-term”. The situation received widespread coverage in the British media this week when hundreds were shown queuing in the western city of Bristol after a dental practice said it would be taking on new NHS patients. Leading dentists said that the queues would be replicated around the country if more practices opened up their appointment books to NHS patients. — AFP