It’s a make or break for NHS dentistry in England and change at the top of Government risks kicking promised reform into the long grass.
The Labour Party won the 2024 election on a prospectus to rebuild NHS dentistry for the long term, via reform of the discredited dental contract that continues to fuel the crisis in the service. Promises have been made for roll out within the current parliament, with a new model of care set to go to public consultation this summer.
We’re deeply concerned that this long-overdue progress could now be undone. It’s not merely the departure of Wes Streeting and the arrival of James Murray as the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, although that will clearly have an impact on what makes the new to do list. It’s the fact that we are effectively in the throes of a Labour leadership election, which could see an all-new top team take the helm in the autumn.
The instructions for now cannot simply be to tread water, and hope for the best. We have practices delivering NHS care at a financial loss, with many already reconsidering their futures in the service. Unmet need for NHS dental care is through the roof, and reports are coming in that the access crisis is now costing lives.
“Promises to fundamentally reform NHS dentistry have been made, but are yet to be kept,” warned BDA Chair Eddie Crouch.
"Change at the top must not undermine progress to save a service millions depend on."
We have already spelled out to Mr Murray that we can’t lose momentum here. Real reform must go hand in hand with sustainable funding.
It is also unclear to anyone with eyes what status that legislative programme set out in the recent King’s Speech actually has.
We have an NHS Modernisation Bill outlining the creation of a Single Patient Record and the end of NHS England.
The single patient record is of course a fantasy in dentistry, given the current lack of digital integration and total absence of any serious capital investment in IT. We simply won't make the strategic shift from analogue to digital without the appropriate resources.
And an invaluable dental public health workforce still has no sense of its future in a post NHS England world, and that will only undermine the move from sickness to prevention.
