GDC Figures Show Skill Mix is Coming
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- Published: Friday, 30 August 2024 10:02
- Written by Peter Ingle
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Sixty years on and after a few false dawns, we could be about to see skill mix take finally off in UK dentistry. The latest GDC registration figures show a clear trend that will support such changes.
Figures showing the position after the latest annual renewal period, show an uptick in the rate of increase in the number of DCPs. On the morning after removals there were 75,905 DCPs on the Register, an increase of 4,101 (5.7%) on the equivalent figure for 2023.
There was a lower percentage of leavers who did not renew, representing 4.3% against the last four years average of 6.1%
However, the increases were not consistent across the various DCP groups. Dental hygienists saw a near 10% increase in numbers from 9,177 to 10, 055. For dental nurses the increase was closer to 5% but the group with the steepest increase was dental therapists where numbers rose by around 20% from 5558 to 6787. One group showed a net loss in numbers, with 88 less dental technicians registered.
The GDC point out that these figures do not provide insight into the professionals working patterns, including hours worked, how many DCPs are working in NHS services compared to private practice, or local workforce conditions. As with dentists, the GDC have sought to voluntarily collect working pattern data, as part of the DCP annual renewal. This was provided by 58% of DCPs, and the GDC’s analysis of this will be available in Autumn 2024.
With such a steep increase in the numbers of hygienists and in particular therapists, the workforce to deliver a meaningful amount of care through skill mix is rapidly becoming available. What is less clear is whether the day to day GDS regulations, and issues with the contract, will allow the new graduates to find work. Numbers of new dental therapy graduates will increase further as new schemes such as the former CDO’s one in Ipswich come on stream. With many MP’s pushing for a dental school in their constituency as a solution to access problems, the boom in therapist numbers will continue.
In 1960, the first school for dental therapists in the Northern Hemisphere, or auxiliaries as they were then known, opened in New Cross. Then in the late 1970s a Government review concluded there were enough GDPs to treat most of the population. Community dental services were cut and many dental therapists were made redundant. The New Cross school was closed in 1983.
To give an indication of how much has changed in that time an extract from the school’s archive tells us that when it opened in 1960, entry was restricted to young single women who had five GCEs (General Certificate of Education) and the course attracted a grant of £240 for the first year and £250 for the second. The name of the health minister opening the new establishment was Enoch Powell.
Long term workforce planning in healthcare has a chequered history. If the authorities can get everything in place it might be BDS courses and schools that close in the coming years as the NHS moves to therapists to deliver the bulk of care. If not, there may be a glut of unemployed dental therapists.
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