NHS can’t keep dentists... as they don’t like a five-day week!

DENTISTRY is facing a recruitment crisis as young practitioners are lured into cosmetic work instead of taking on the ‘stress’ of an NHS clinic.

New recruits are said to be put off by the ‘treadmill’ style of NHS work and five-day weeks, and are instead going private or overseas.

David McColl, chair of the Scottish Dental Practice Committee at the British Dental Association, issued the warning following a fall of 8 per cent in high-street NHS dentists, from 3,038 in March 2020 to 2,791 in September 2022.

He said: ‘Our biggest problem at the moment is recruitment.

‘Trying to recruit dentists to the NHS is probably the worst it’s ever been and I’ve been working as an NHS dentist for 37 years. We just can’t recruit. We have enough dentists but we don’t have enough that want to work in the NHS. Younger people have a different idea about how they want to work – they want a better work-life balance.

‘They don’t want to come into an environment with a payment model where they’re going to be on this treadmill all the time.

‘All that does is lead to stress and burnout. None of them really want to work a five-day week – they want to work on a part-time basis.’

He added that younger dentists were also being influenced by social media, which has promoted the appeal of cosmetic dentistry.

He said: ‘That’s the “sexy side” of dentistry, if you like – aesthetics. You only need to look at social media to see stuff about implants.

‘That’s the world we live in now and you can understand younger people wanting to go into that – it’s going to be a bit more rewarding than run of the mill.’

Mr McColl said: ‘Australia is a very attractive place for people to go. They’re better paid, with better conditions, more time with patients. There’s a lot of dentists I know or have heard about who are thinking about going to Australia.’

Last year major changes were made to the NHS appointments system in a bid to free up dentists’ time. The shake-up included an end to routine six-month check-ups in favour of a risk-based approach, where those with less healthy teeth would be seen on a more regular basis.

It also included increases in the NHS charges for dental procedures, such as fillings, after dentists complained that the previous fees were too low to cover their costs.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: ‘The responsibility for Scotland’s NHS dentistry being “the worst it’s ever been” lies squarely with the SNP. Their funding decisions, abandonment of training and dire workforce planning have left patients without treatment or forced to go private.

‘Their decision to create a tax gap with the rest of the UK is now – as they were warned – having a disastrous effect on recruitment, making it even harder to recover from their mismanagement, and leaving patients without essential health provision. Scotland is being let down by continual SNP failures.’

Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: ‘We implemented significant dental payment reform on November 1, 2023, following extensive consultation with the sector.

‘We are also actively working with our counterparts across the UK on a range of workforce initiatives designed to further improve service sustainability through increases to the supply and diversity of the workforce.’

‘A lot are thinking about Australia’