According to leaked messages seen by the professional body, the Government appear to have moved from pledges of using £125m in new investment from the clampdown on non-doms and are instead recycling existing budgets. This is in stark contrast to messages from the Treasury on billions of ‘new’ NHS funding.
Close to £500m was left unspent in 2022/23 as practices struggled to recruit and retain staff, missing targets set in their discredited NHS contracts. These funds were never appropriately ring fenced under the last government and have been largely lost from the front line.
The BDA say that all these funds – around a sixth of the total NHS dental budget – should have already been earmarked to expand access for millions of patients by keeping NHS practices sustainable. Dentist leaders say the Treasury appears to be forcing this raid to meet the manifesto commitment of 700,000 new urgent care appointments. Unmet need for NHS dentistry is estimated at over 13 million, or 1 in 4 of England’s adult population.
Dentists warn that this revenue stream appears wholly unsustainable, given the Labour Party has also promised to reform the contract fuelling the current crisis. It stresses the success of any reform would be measured in eliminating these underspends.
The BDA has also criticised plans not to adopt a single national framework for delivery of urgent care. The draft message is letting Integrated Care Boards decide how to use funds, with delivery set to begin in December. Experiences in the North of England suggest that a model based on sessional payments enjoyed strong uptake, as it broke with the flawed targets in the current contract. The BDA feel the lack of clarity may limit uptake.
BDA Chair Eddie Crouch said:
“Promises of new investment in NHS dentistry have turned into a raid on existing budgets.
“These are funds that could be used to keep practices afloat, and millions of patients seen.
“Instead of a ‘rescue plan’ the Treasury are offering a modest exercise in recycling.”