We have slammed attempts by the Welsh Government to pass the buck on record breaking delays on pay uplifts for NHS dentists.
In a letter sent to all NHS dental contract holders, Jeremy Miles MS, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, accused the professional body of rejecting “all offers on the grounds that 6% is not sufficient to meet the DDRB recommendation on dentist’s pay and are not willing to negotiate further.”
This is the reality. In a complete break from precedent, the Welsh Government attempted to tie any pay uplift for the 2024/25 financial year to dentists signing up to changes that will likely underpin its untested plans for reform. This includes transferring all patient data and waiting lists to new systems.
Are ministers offering a pay rise? No. The uplift of 6% still translates into a pay cut by failing to cover the soaring costs of delivering NHS care. Utilities costs are estimated to have increased by 10% on the last financial year, staffing costs by 15% and laboratory costs by 16.5%.
“This is a spectacular display of bad faith from the Welsh Government” says WGDPC Chair Russell Gidney.
“The sole authors of record-breaking delays on pay are based in Cardiff Bay. For the very first time Ministers have sought to tie the hands of demoralised dentists.
“They made pay rises conditional on signing up to changes that will underpin a programme of reform that could sink this service.
“This forces colleagues to sign up to a deal that failed to keep pace with soaring costs.
“It should come as little surprise to the Welsh Government that no health professional is going to roll over and welcome a pay cut.”