We have warned officials that this week’s announcement to reduce the size of Department of Health and NHS England central workforce by fifty percent could critically undermine an already fragile dental public health function.
This decision has the potential to further erode the capacity of this vital specialty, which has already been extensively diminished by successive organisational change programmes over the last decade. We are now seeking assurances that the headcount of dental public health consultants will not reduce as a result of the transformation programme; to do so would significantly hinder, perhaps irreversibly, the ability of this workforce to carry out its vital role.
NHS dentistry is facing a severe crisis. The Government is committed to a range of policies to address this from contract reform and urgent care provision to supervised toothbrushing and water fluoridation schemes.
Quite simply, improvements in oral health and reductions in inequalities cannot be achieved without a fit for purpose dental public health consultant workforce to drive the prevention agenda and effectively measure its success. This will require national dental public health strategic leadership and policy development and sufficient local dental public health consultant expertise to support local implementation of national policies.
However, this invaluable specialty is under threat, suffering a significant decline in capacity over the last two decades, both within NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care. Since the transfer of the national dental public health function from Public Health England to the Department, the number of dental public health consultants in this sector has decreased from six to just two. Similarly, in NHS England, approximately 25 percent of the Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) workforce has been lost since October 2021. It is estimated that the current workforce capacity must double if it is to meet the needs of the system.
Successive NHS reorganisations have fragmented the dental public health workforce and resulted in an absence of clear leadership and accountability in this area. Urgent action to remedy this is essential if we are to refocus on prevention and end the crisis facing NHS dentistry.
We have implored NHS England and DHSC to advocate for the safeguarding of the dental public health consultant workforce, with the headcount of dental public health consultants within NHS England at the very least maintained.
“The cuts at NHS England are unprecedented,” says Professor Robert Witton, Chair of our Dental Public Health Committee.
“There's no duplication of effort with dedicated dental public health professionals, who are already in very short supply.”
“Government wants to shift the focus from treatment to prevention. Putting these jobs on the line won't achieve that goal.”