“The Cavalry Is Coming” Labour Tells BDA Conference
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- Published: Monday, 20 May 2024 08:09
- Written by Guy Tuggle
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Preet Kaur Gill MP, Labour’s Shadow Primary Care & Public Health Minister has been outlining her party’s plan to rescue NHS dentistry.
Speaking at The British Dental Conference and Dentistry Show in Birmingham on Friday, Gill told an audience of ‘hundreds’ of dentists about Labour’s desire to rescue NHS dentistry from its immediate crisis and told them that “the cavalry is coming” to deliver wider reform to the outdated dental contract.
“The future of NHS dentistry will be on the ballot paper" at the next election, and that access to a dentist would be “just as integral as your access to a GP.”
Her speech referenced familiar problems. She spoke of patients who had waited up to three years to get seen, by which time half their teeth had rotted beyond repair, cancer patients whose treatment has been delayed because they couldn’t get an appointment when they needed one and of children in local schools who are too self-conscious to smile.
Her speech was delivered as the latest NHS statistics reveal that nearly 400,000 fewer children were seen by a dentist within the last 12 months in England, compared to 5 years before, and over 4 million fewer adults were seen in the last two years compared to 5 years ago – a 19% decrease.
Mrs Gill set out Labour’s rescue plan to fund 700,000 extra urgent appointments each and every year, introduce a targeted recruitment scheme to encourage hundreds of new dentists to left behind areas with a £20,000 incentive, and introduce a supervised toothbrushing scheme in schools.
The rescue plan was fully funded, with new money found from clamping down on tax dodgers and closing non-dom tax loopholes Mrs Gill said.
But whilst the Shadow Minister’s speech provide a robust critique of NHS dentistry’s travails under Conservative rule since 2010, it did not explain how the Party would reform the failed contract widely blamed for the dental access crisis.
Eddie Crouch, Chair of the British Dental Association, said “It’s heartening to see a firm commitment to fix this broken service.
“This really shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Millions need NHS dentistry to have a future, and that requires real reform, not the tweaks at the margins we’ve seen from Government.”
Comments on Mr Crouch’s social media thread (‘X’, formerly Twitter) following the Conference suggest that the BDA is engaged in regular talks with Labour spokespeople. The party is widely expected to form the next government and a charm offensive looks to be well underway as the BDA proactively seeks to influence future policy.
Mrs Gill posted that it had been “Great to meet dentists and speak at the British Dental Conferenced with @TheBDAChair @EddieCrouch.”
The BDA replied “Thank you to Shadow Health Minister @PreetGillMP for setting out your vision for NHS dentistry to hundreds of dentists at #BDCDS24 & making a firm commitment to work with @theBDA to fix this broken system.”
By presiding over dental deserts, their failure to agree a new contract and consequent near collapse of NHS dental provision as a universal component of NHS healthcare, the Conservatives have gifted their Labour opponents an open goal.
The Labour Party has recognised the radioactivity of the issue on the doorsteps and has pledged to deliver 700,000 additional appointments together with launching incentives to work in NHS dentistry and bake in some supervised tooth brushing in infant schools.
The headlines are good as far as they go. Which isn’t far. NHS dentistry needs more than verbal cavalry if it is to be rescued. The profession must hope that the party will continue to work with the BDA and heed its advice from day one.
By setting targets, the profession and the public will not struggle to hold Mrs Gill and her colleagues to account.
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