Dentists to receive pay dependent on number of patients, not treatments.
Ministers on Friday (March 12th) announced a proposed U-turn on the way UK dentists are remunerated.
UK dentists could soon get paid depending on the number of patients they see, rather than the number of procedures that are carried out, in a bid to end a so-called “drill and fill” culture that has arisen in recent years.
Pilot schemes are to be set up in 29 areas of England, with 25 local healthcare trusts being involved. Ministers hope this new measure will help reduce the number of people who do not have access to a dentist, although this government initiative does come 11 years after Tony Blair pledged that everyone in the UK would have access to free dental care.
Elsewhere, Susie Sanderson, chair of the British Dental Association’s executive board, recently claimed the organisation is disappointed with the Department of Health’s recent announcement concerning pay increases for NHS dentists.
Salaried dentists will see a pay increase of one per cent over the coming year, while dental practitioners are set to receive a 0.9 per cent raise after restructuring costs.