Scottish Government plans ‘set to spark exodus’ of NHS dentists
Scottish Government plans to revert to pre-COVID models of care “risks sparking a flight of dentists from the NHS, with potentially devastating consequences for patient access across Scotland,” according to the British Dental Association (BDA).
Last month, Humza Yousaf, the Cabinet Health Secretary, wrote to NHS dental teams saying that all emergency support will be withdrawn by 1 April 2022. Since the first lockdown NHS practices have operated under a COVID finance package, reflecting pandemic pressures and tight infection control restrictions that continue to limit capacity across the service.
According to a new survey of dentists in Scotland1:
- 80 per cent of estimate their practices will reduce their NHS commitment should the Scottish Government withdraw emergency support and return to pre-COVID models of care. More than a third (38 per cent) indicate they are now likely to change career or seek early retirement in the next 12 months, should the policy be taken forward. In addition, 15 per cent say they are likely to practice dentistry outside of Scotland, and 1 in 10 estimate their practice is likely to close.
- Half of dentists report that they are operating at less than 50 per cent of pre-COVID capacity. While the Scottish Government has offered a support package to boost capacity, many practices are unwilling to commit to a broken NHS model. More than 30 per cent say they have not applied, and among those half (50 per cent) say they are now unable to commit to the NHS long-term. Support for ventilation costs requires a minimum three-year commitment to the NHS.
- A majority (89 per cent) estimate the removal of emergency funding will have a high impact on the short-medium term sustainability of their practices.
BDA Scotland said it had warned from the outset that a return to a ‘business as usual model’ – low margin and high volume – will put practices under unsustainable financial pressure and will likely lead to closures or movement to the private sector. Practices are facing an unprecedented backlog, with recent data from Public Health Scotland indicating that the number of treatments delivered in the year to March 2021 was less than 25 per cent of those delivered in the previous 12-month period, corresponding to more than 3.5 million appointments lost as a result of the pandemic.
It said that with NHS dental care free at the point of use remaining a centrepiece SNP policy, the Scottish Government “must change course to achieve that goal, develop an interim funding package to support dentists and their teams as they work through the backlog, and begin work on a new, sustainable model for delivering care”.
David McColl, Chair of the British Dental Association’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee said: “Free NHS dentistry for all is a worthy ambition. Rather than exploring ways to actually achieve that goal the Scottish Government has blindly headed down a road that could destroy this service.
“COVID has slashed our capacity, yet emergency support will end. Yes, Ministers have offered some support, but with small print many practices simply could not sign up to in good conscience. Dentists are unwilling to be shackled to a corpse. When aid hinges on committing to an NHS model that is now frankly unsustainable it is unsurprising take up appears so modest.
“We doubt Humza Yousaf wants to be remembered as the man who killed NHS dentistry in Scotland. Without a willingness to reflect on choices made in recent weeks that risks being his legacy.”
1British Dental Association online survey of 1,164 General Dental Practitioners practicing in Scotland. Fieldwork 25 October to 1 November 2021.
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