Dentists in blast over government ‘teeth tax’
A HUDDERSFIELD dentist has warned that her profession is being “made to look greedy” after the government said patient charges would increase by an inflation-busting 5%.
Dr Sally Fitzgibbon who runs Fartown Dental Practice on Bradford Road, Fartown, said the rise would create a massive PR problem for her profession “because the public will think we are getting this money, so dentists spiral downwards in public opinion.”
She added: “But the government did promise a 2.5% pay increase, we are meant to be getting that next month back dated to April. We are being helped with PPE.
“I would like NHS dentistry for everyone but with the ability to get the highly skilled treatment done privately by specialists who hopefully have survived the Covid! crisis financially.
“Making the government aware their pathway won’t lead to this and campaigning to change this.”
And in a message to dentists across the country, David Cottam, chairman of the General Dental Practice Committee, said: “Patient charges in England will rise by 5% on 14 December.
“If you treat patients we want to help you set the record straight on who benefits from this increase.
“The money raised from this increase doesn’t go to dentists.
“It will do nothing to help the practices struggling or the millions of patients struggling to get an appointment.
“Ministers are simply making our patients pay more so they can pay less.
“Help us to expose the #taxonteeth. During a global pandemic when access to services remains so limited, ministers have decided to give patients more reasons not to attend with another inflation-busting hike.
“These increases are never a substitute for sustained government investment.”