DT News - UK - National Assembly for Wales unveils report recommending new NHS dental system

Dental Tribune UK

Tue. 28 May 2019

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CARDIFF, UK: The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee of the National Assembly for Wales has released a report recommending transformative change of the NHS dentistry system in the country. The report, backed by the British Dental Association (BDA), highlights how the present system is failing the needs of patients in Wales’ most deprived communities.

The NHS Dental Services Contract came into force in 2006 in Wales and pays an annual amount for dental work, which is split into units of dental activity (UDA). Since the payment is the same whether a dentist undertakes one or more similar procedures, the committee was told there was no incentive for dentists to take on high-needs patients, as they would be paid the same amount for doing more work.

As a result, the committee is concerned that the current UDA-based system could discourage dentists from taking on more demanding cases, particularly in areas of deprivation where poorer access to dental services already exists.

In its report, the committee makes six recommendations, including

that the Welsh government replaces the current UDA targets with a new, more appropriate and more flexible system for monitoring outcomes to include a focus on prevention and quality of treatment;
that the Welsh government ensures and monitors the consistent reinvestment of claw-back money recovered by health boards back into dentistry services until a new system for monitoring outcomes is in place; and
that the Welsh government undertakes an evaluation to determine whether the UK-wide recruitment system effectively supports a strategy to increase the recruitment of those who are Welsh-domiciled and the levels of retention of students generally after training.

“What is clear to this committee is that the current NHS contract arrangements for dentists simply aren’t working,” said Assembly Member Dai Lloyd, Chair of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. “Paying someone the same amount to deliver a course of treatment on a patient regardless of the amount of work involved makes little sense. Therefore this committee believes it is time to end the current arrangements and find a new way of making sure everyone in Wales has access to quality dental services regardless of where they are.”

Dr Tom Bysouth, Chair of the BDA’s Welsh General Dental Practice Committee, commented: “We want to thank the Committee for providing the unvarnished facts about NHS dentistry in Wales.”

“On access and on care for our most deprived communities, this system has failed on every front, and has fuelled a collapse in morale among the profession. We are pleased this committee recognises the need to consign this discredited system to the dustbin of history,” he added.

The report, titled A Fresh Start: Inquiry into Dentistry in Wales, will now be considered by the Welsh government.

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