BDA Calls For A ‘Vital’ Freeze On NHS Patient Charges
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- Published: Monday, 23 May 2022 08:00
- Written by Chris Tapper
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The British Dental Association has called for a freeze on NHS dental charges after the Health Secretary froze prescription charges to "help ease cost of living pressures."
The BDA said “No dental patient should have to choose between heating, eating or seeking NHS care.”
“It’s time for a freeze on dental charges and fair funding for dentistry.”
On Saturday, the BDA said on the BDA News website “With inflation now at a 40-year high, the British Dental Association has called on Health Secretary Sajid Javid to follow the precedent set with NHS prescriptions and freeze NHS dental charges for the foreseeable future.”
The BDA was responding to the Health Secretary’s tweet last week which said “I’m freezing prescription charges this year to help ease cost of living pressures & put money back in people’s pockets.”
Mr Javid added “The rise in the cost of living has been unavoidable & while we can’t completely prevent it, where we can help - we will.”
BDA News said patient fees, which were introduced in the early days of the NHS “Were put in place explicitly to reduce demand for dentistry.”
The Adult Dental Health Survey 2000 found that just over a quarter of adults (26 per cent) reported that the type of dental treatment they opted to have in the past had been affected by the cost of the treatment, and almost one-fifth (19 per cent) said that they had delayed dental treatment for the same reason.
BDA News said “From 2012 to 2020 charges have risen annually at rates well above-inflation.”
“In 2021 - for the first time since 2010 - there was no increase.”
The BDA said that the pandemic caused charge revenues to drop by nearly £0.6 billion related to the reduction in patient volumes.
“Government contributions to the NHS budget in 2019/20 were lower than they were a decade ago, and have had to increase in order to fill that gap and maintain the viability of the service.”
“The BDA has expressed its concern that Treasury imperatives to return to a ’pre-COVID’ model will result in further, significant increases in charge levels,” BDA News reported.
The BDA said that “Confusion over and changes to eligibility - including the rollout of Universal Credit - have already led patients on modest incomes to turn away from dentistry.”
The BDA said the Government must end its overreliance on patient charges and must rule out new charge hikes.
In an open letter went to Health Secretary by the BDA, Chair Dr Eddie Crouch said "The government must not give those on modest incomes a reason to think twice about seeing their dentist.”
"No patient should have to choose between heating, eating or seeking NHS dental care. A charge freeze is a vital first step, but the logic of recent hikes – that patients should pay more so government can pay less – must end.”
"The Department has stated a commitment to ’level-up’ dentistry. We want these pledges to have meaning, and a fair funding settlement is required to underpin the rebuild and reform of the service.”
"It is not plausible to tackle the pandemic backlog, improve access and recruit and retain talent in the workforce on an inadequate, standstill budget."
NHS dental fees were first introduced in 1951. The fee of £1 remained until 1971, but rose to £3.50 by 1976.
The patient fees have risen annually since then, and the maximum fee for a Band 3 treatment now stands at £282.80.
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