BDA Warns New Chancellor “The Dental Ship Is Going Down”
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- Published: Tuesday, 18 October 2022 07:44
- Written by Chris Tapper
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The British Dental Association has warned the new Chancellor of the Exchequer that any further funding cuts “Risk destroying any prospect of saving NHS dentistry in England.”
The BDA sent an open letter to Jeremy Hunt following his emergency statement on public finances on Monday, in which he rolled back the vast majority of measures in the mini-budget proposed by former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng only a few days earlier.
The Chancellor’s measures are estimated to retrieve only half of the £70bn thought to have been lost as a result of Mr Kwarteng’s mini-budget.
In his statement, The Guardian said Mr Hunt “Alluded to needing to take “difficult decisions” to regain trust “in our national finances.”
Mr Hunt said “That means decisions of eye-watering difficulty.”
“Every single one of those decisions – whether reductions in spending or increases in tax – will be shaped through core, compassionate Conservative values that will prioritise the needs of the most vulnerable.”
BDA News said the BDA has stressed to the Chancellor that “Without meaningful investment a reform process looks doomed from the outset, and that any further ’efficiency savings’ will critically undermine existing dental providers and further erode access to the public.”
In the letter to Mr Hunt, the BDA said “We have heard your messages on the need for transparency, honesty and candour on the government’s plans.”
“Follow today’s emergency statement we feel compelled to offer the same.
In blunt terms, NHS dentistry is approaching the end of the road. The government has set worthy objectives to improve access and workforce retention. However, these goals cannot plausibly be achieved within the historic financial constraints set by the Treasury.”
The letter went on “As things stand, a reform process looks doomed before it has even begun, with little scope do more than rearrange the deckchairs as the ship goes down.”
The BDA letter said “You have also spoken of the need for all Departments to seek ’efficiency savings’. Since the Financial Crash NHS dentistry has faced cuts with no parallel anywhere in the health service, going into the pandemic with lower government contributions - in cash terms - than it saw a decade ago. As we have told your predecessors, it would take an extra £880m a year simply to restore levels of resource to those we saw in 2010.”
“There is simply no more fat to trim, short of denying access an even greater proportion of the population.”
The letter went on “We never imagined we would need to defend the wholly inadequate resources currently offered to us. But it seems we must. However, the stark reality remains that sustainable investment is urgently required if we are going to bring this service back from the brink.”
The BDA News website said “In his former role as chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Jeremy Hunt had been a leading advocate of reform in dentistry, and a fully funded workforce plan for the NHS.”
The BDA said of the new Chancellor “In his former role as chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Jeremy Hunt had been a leading advocate of reform in dentistry, and a fully funded workforce plan for the NHS.”
The letter to the Chancellor was jointly signed by BDA Chief Executive Martin Woodrow, Chair Dr Eddie Crouch, and Chair of the General Dental Practice Committee, Dr Shawn Charlwood.
Dr Crouch told BDA News "Without fair funding for NHS dentistry, there was little scope to do more than rearrange the deckchairs as the ship goes down. New cuts will only speed that process along.”
"Since the financial crash, dentists have faced cuts with no parallel anywhere in the NHS. There is simply no more fat to trim, short of denying access to an even greater proportion of the population.”
"We never imagined we would need to defend the wholly inadequate resources currently offered to us. But it seems we must. However, the stark reality remains that sustainable investment is urgently required if we are going to bring this service back from the brink.”
"In his former role, the Chancellor recognised the scale of this crisis. NHS dentistry is already on the critical list. Any further cuts will kill the patient."
(Official portrait of Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP crop 2.jpg|Official portrait of Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP by Richard Townshend)
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