What Dentists Want from Party Manifestos
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- Published: Tuesday, 18 June 2024 06:33
- Written by Peter Ingle
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As the election campaigning ploughs on, two contrasting announcements shed some light on the gulf between the profession and our elected leaders. Indemnifier, The Dental Defence Union (DDU) have released details of responses to their recent survey of their members.
96% wanted political parties to include plans in their manifestos to support the health and wellbeing of the dental workforce.
282 dental professionals responded to the DDU survey, 80% of who said that they feel negative about the future of the NHS.
John Makin, head of the DDU said: “Our members have made their views clear, and it should be a wake-up call for all politicians in this election campaign. They want all political parties to include commitments in their election manifestos to support the health and wellbeing of the dental workforce. The men and women who care for us, need healthcare leaders and the government to care for them.
“As we await the political party manifestos, we hope this is a call to action for politicians to really offer meaningful support in caring for the carers. He referred to events earlier in 2024 when NHS England, after considerable protest, extended a programme so that all clinicians could access mental health support from the NHS Practitioner Health programme, reversing their earlier announcement that secondary care clinicians would no longer be able to access the service. John Makin called on all the political parties to commit to this support for the long term.
Other findings in the survey were that just 17% of those responding said they always felt able to deliver optimal patient care, while 56% said this was possible most of the time, 21% half the time and 6%, less than half the time. The impact of this was linked to concerns about receiving a complaint or claim, poorer mental health, and lower team morale.
At a time of workforce shortages and increasingly desperate attempts to shore up the numbers, 41% of respondents said they were planning to reduce their hours because of the pressures and 31% are planning to leave practice or retire. 45% said they are reprioritising their workloads.
One survey question asked which dento-legal issues parliament should prioritise with the top three responses being:
- Tackle waiting times/access to NHS treatment
- Reform healthcare regulation by the GDC
- Tackle abusive or threatening behaviour by patients
At much the same time the Conservative manifesto was launched. When the British Dental Association statement in response begins with a quote from Chair Eddie Crouch, even party Central Office must realise that they are not going to be showered in praise.
Eddie said: “Fixing a failed contract is the litmus test for any party serious about saving NHS dentistry. This manifesto leaves dentists with no sense if the Conservatives are offering change or more tweaks at the margins. Reheating the contents of a lacklustre Recovery Plan will not give this service a future.”
The BDA statement concluded by expressing their concern that, ‘there are no tangible plans outlined to end the crisis in NHS dentistry, beyond the very modest steps set out in February’s ‘Recovery Plan.” The Manifesto pledges to make “further reforms to the dental contract to ensure its future sustainability” but leaves it unclear if the Party is prepared to change tack, and break with the failed system that is fuelling the exodus from the NHS workforce and the current access crisis.’
The BDA’s new found partiality may be explained by their confidence that they will not be dealing with a Conservative health minister after July 4th. The possibility, however remote, that they might be dealing with them in the more distant future, probably explains why their statement is this restrained.
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