Statements quietly tabled in parliament show charges in England will rise by an average of 2.3% from 1 April 2025.
This will mean the cost of a band 1 treatment like a check-up will increase from £26.80 to £27.40, a band 2 like a filling will increase from £73.50 to £75.30, and a band 3 like dentures will increase from £319.10 to £326.70.
"This hike is reheated austerity," warns GDPC Chair Shiv Pabary. "It won’t put a penny into a struggling service. Our patients are paying more, just so Ministers can pay less."
"Rachel Reeves will need to justify her stealth cuts to millions of patients.”
It’s below inflation, but we are demanding assurances the new Government will not ape its predecessor’s playbook and treat this increase in charges simply as a substitute for state investment. NHS dentistry’s budget has been effectively static at around £3bn for fifteen years, with patient charges forming an ever-greater share of the total pot until COVID. These cuts are unique – dentistry is the only part of the NHS operating on less direct Government spend than it was in 2010.
But we are not waiting to hear back from the Treasury.
We’ve mobilised with our friends at 38 Degrees, to call on Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Health Secretary Wes Streeting, not merely to abandon the hike, but to ensure the coming Spending Review puts in place sustainable funding for the service that does not target hard-pressed patients. The petition is live here.
38 Degrees CEO Matthew McGregor stressed that “families across the country will be bracing themselves today at the news that they’ll soon be hit by a health bill hike during this ongoing cost of living crisis - and that’s if they’re lucky enough to even have access to an NHS dentist in the first place.
""It’s the wrong move at the wrong time - especially as the extra price tag won’t result in the improvements in dental care so many of us are desperate for."
We know the Treasury is forcing the hand of ministers here. In a written statement Minister Stephen Kinnock said “dental patients will benefit from the continued provision that this important revenue supports.”
That does not align with polling we’ve undertaken, or the government’s own figures.
These hikes, no matter what the size, effect the choices patients make. Whether to attend or not, whether to have a tooth saved or extracted. They hit patients on very modest incomes, who are not eligible for exemptions.
We’re already seeing criticism from across party lines.
"NHS dentistry is utterly broken,” said Green co-leader Adrian Ramsay. “Make no mistake, rise in dental charges is, in effect, a cut in services.
“It will not help dentists or services, let alone deliver for patients. This increase won't solve the root problems of the crisis in dentistry, nor will it stop the exodus of dentists from the NHS. The Government must immediately step in and provide adequate central funding for dentistry combined with a review of the dental contract to make it economic for dentists to work in the NHS."
“I agree with the British Dental Association’s call for the Government to develop a proper plan to fund NHS dentistry for all."
This development has only underlined the evidence we put to the Public Accounts Committee last month.
Real reform has to go hand in hand with sustainable funding.