Dental Report: 'Full of Holes and Causing Pain?'
THE NEW DENTAL CONTRACT –
Full of Holes and Causing Pain?
The Patients Association today launches its latest Report: “The New Dental Contract – Full of Holes and Causing Pain?” examining PCT commissioning against the reality for patients.
The Report is based on the Association’s recent survey of PCTs and reveals
- Widespread confusion for patients about access to dental services in their locality
- An unacceptably variable service depending on the PCT commissioning the services – another glaring example of the NHS postcode lottery
- Patients are at risk of inadequate care because UDAs – units of dental activity – rather than patient need is being funded
- Detection and prevention of oral health disease is at risk
- A rise in dental complaints
Katherine Murphy, Director of Communications commenting on the Report said: “Patients are taxed more than ever to provide their health services and so are entitled to the best service for that money. Our survey shows that the new contract is compounding previous dental policy failures, and too many patients are being excluded from continuing dental care.
The Government talks about a patient-centred service. But the results of this survey show the opposite. The new dental contract puts overall activity above the needs of individual patients and has destroyed the previous relationship that existed between dentist and patient.
There is no reason – health or political – why teeth should be treated any differently to other parts of our bodies. The current situation is leading to unnecessary pain and unnecessary private cost for too many patients in the
- Most PCTs have had a 4.5% increase in funding over last year with over half saying they were satisfied with this.
- But they also reveal that there are shortfalls in funding orthodontics.
- Not surprisingly over half of PCTs admit that the number of complaints has increased. 60% of which are about charges, 37.6% about access and 28.2% directly about orthodontics.
The Patients Association today calls on the Government to:
- Examine the accepted co-payments system for dentistry as the basis for expanding the availability of treatments elsewhere in the NHS e.g. non-NICE approved drugs.
- Ensure early diagnosis of serious oral illness e.g. cancer, by giving patients the same level of preventative care as is now planned for other specialties.
- Remove the postcode lottery for dental patients which results from weak commissioning by some PCTs. Strong commissioners should take over the commissioning role of weak PCTs.
- Require PCTs to ensure patients are fully aware of the important changes to their NHS dental service and charges and thereby minimise financial waste.
- Ensure the same level of coverage and access to specialist treatments, e.g. root canal, orthodontics, as applies elsewhere in the NHS.
- Require PCTs to protect their patients by ensuring dentists comply with latest infection control guidance.
