Dental Practices Doubling Up As ‘Tax Collectors’
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- Published: Tuesday, 06 June 2023 07:43
- Written by Guy Tuggle
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The government and its spokespeople never miss an opportunity to boast about their recent ‘reforms’ to the NHS contract that have enabled dentists treating more than three teeth to claim five UDAs (up from three) underpinned by a new minimum payment to practices of £23 per UDA.
In April, however, the Band One patient charge for routine check-ups, was increased by 8.5% to £25.80, meaning that practices in receipt of £23 are now collecting £2.80 for the government each time they pass a patient the payment terminal.
Analysis by the British Dental Association published in The Times on Tuesday 30th May suggests that just under 500 practices are remunerated at a UDA rate below the patient charge. These practices generated – ‘collected’ - an estimated £2M in funding last year.
Whilst dental practice owners and their Associates feel rightly aggrieved by this situation, more worrying still is the revelation by a recent YouGov poll that high NHS dental charges has prompted 23% of Brits to delay or go without NHS dental treatment.
An increasing number of practices are reporting patients cancelling appointments on the grounds of unaffordability.
The BDA’s general dental practice committee chairman Shawn Charlwood said “Our funding model is perverse. No NHS patient is making a ‘fair contribution’ towards the cost of their care when they are putting in more than the government.
Many of these practices will be delivering treatments at a loss” Mr Charlwood said. He added “This bargain basement approach fails our patients and is wholly unsustainable.”
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