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Income drop and low morale: Northern Ireland dentists are stuggling

New NHS reports have highlighted a number of stark findings among Health Service practitioners, including that dentists in Northern Ireland are very unhappy about their financial situation. (Photograph: Gecko Studio/Shutterstock)

Tue. 4 September 2018

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BELFAST, UK: The British Dental Association (BDA) has warned that general dental practitioners in Northern Ireland are at breaking point. The trade union’s cautioning was in response to the publication of NHS Digital’s Dental Earnings and Expenses Estimates 2016/17 report and Dental Working Hours report, which examined morale and motivation levels within the profession.

According to the reports, there has been an unprecedented drop of 38 per cent in real incomes for practice-owning dentists since 2008. The taxable income for practice owners in Northern Ireland has decreased by 15 per cent in the last year alone. The statistics also revealed low or very low morale among 70 per cent of practice owners and over half of associates such that nearly two-thirds of dentists are considering leaving the profession.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Richard Graham, Chair of the BDA Northern Ireland Dental Practice Committee, said: “This official data paints a particularly bleak picture of what GDPs [general dental practitioners] in Northern Ireland have been warning about for some time. Nine years of successive government imposed pay caps, soaring expenses, increased regulation, the risk of litigation and rising indemnity fees—at the same time as direct cuts on the GDS [general dental services] budget—has created this downward spiral. The full financial impact, and the very real human impact is clearly evidenced by the government’s own figures.”

According to Graham, the situation of high-street dentists having suffered a real-term 38 per cent decline in income levels over the past decade to the point where the majority are questioning their future in the profession is as serious as it gets.

“Our message to the Department of Health and the Health and Social Care Board at this time, is they need to act now to ensure the future sustainability of Health Service dentistry,” Graham continued. “Morale and earnings are at crisis point. Only meaningful investment in dental services, and the professionals who underpin these will safeguard a future for Health Service dentistry”.

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