Dentist numbers exceeding targets
The number of dentists recruited over the past year has exceeded government targets, the health minister said today.
Speaking at the Institute of Dentistry in London, Rosie Winterton announced that the NHS had recruited 1,100 new dentists – 100 more than the target for the year.
She said: “NHS dentistry is getting better, and we are doing all we can to keep increasing access to [it].”
“We know access to an NHS dentist has been a problem for people and that is why we started a year-long recruitment campaign last July to bring more dentists to the [health service] so more people can see an NHS dentist near where they live.”
The increase in dentist recruitment is the highest in the last 20 years and the number of student dentists also rose by 189 – which is above the 25 per cent target set and equivalent to 170 new students.
But the Liberal Democrats have dismissed the figures and called the government’s policy on dentistry a “shambles”, while the British Dental Association (BDA) has warned that long-term solutions need to be found to recruit more dentists and keep existing ones in the health service.
Chairman of the BDA’s general dental practice committee, Lester Ellman, said: “There is no doubt that these 1,000 new dentists are welcome within the NHS, but if the government is serious about tackling the current dental crisis it needs to take urgent steps to keep existing dentists within the NHS.”
The health minister also announced other new measures, including a new contract for dentists designed to help cut their workload and offer a guaranteed income.
But dentists say the details of the new recruitment incentives need clarification.
“We are just months away from the largest overhaul of NHS dentistry in more than 50 years, yet dentists still have far too little information about what the changes will mean in real terms for them and their patients,” said Dr Ellman.
“The government must provide this information if it is not to see an exodus by dentists from the NHS,” he added.
Lib Dem health spokesman Steve Webb said: “The provision of NHS dentistry is a shambles.
“Ministers are kidding themselves if they think that they are winning the battle to keep dentists in the NHS. Millions of people in this country are not registered with a dentist.”
