British Dental Association Urges Reconsideration Of NHS Commitment Criteria, UK

The British Dental Association has called for action from the Scottish Government Health Department (SGHD) after new figures revealed that almost a third of dental practices across Scotland that provide NHS treatment do not qualify as being committed to the NHS. The latest figures from NHS Practitioner Services Division, which relate to the quarter ending March 2008, show that almost 30 per cent (29.5 per cent) of the 879 practices providing NHS care in Scotland are not deemed to be committed.


The current criteria, imposed as part of the Dental Action Plan introduced in April 2005, mean that dentists whose NHS lists are focused on children or socially deprived members of society do not qualify as committed. Nor do those whose number of NHS patients reduces significantly. Practices not deemed to be committed are not eligible to receive the full General Dental Practice Allowance or rent reimbursement payments from NHS Scotland intended to retain dentists in the NHS. The BDA has lobbied strenuously for the qualifying criteria to be reconsidered.


Derek Harper, Vice Chair of the BDA's Scottish Dental Practice Committee, said:
"It is now more than three years since the introduction of the Dental Action Plan, with its promise to improve access to NHS dentistry. That promise has not been kept.


"The action plan also introduced the flawed definition of commitment that means a significant number of dentists providing a large amount of NHS care still aren't recognised as being committed to the NHS. The BDA urges the current administration to reconsider the folly of its predecessor and work with dentists' representatives to develop an equitable solution to this problem that is in the best interests of patients and that would encourage retention of dentists in the NHS."


-- The definition of commitment to the NHS that the Scottish Executive has implemented means that unless a dentist treats a minimum of 500 patients, they are not considered to be committed to the NHS and are not be eligible for new allowances arising out of the Scottish Executive Health Department's Action Plan. Dentists must also treat a minimum number of 100 adult fee-paying patients and gross ??50,000 per annum to qualify. Furthermore, reducing the number of NHS patients being treated by more than 10% can also lead to a practice being deemed to be uncommitted.


-- The definition leads to a number of anomalies. For instance, a practice treating 500 NHS patients and maintaining that number will be deemed to be committed, while a practice that initially treats 1,400 NHS patients but reduces its NHS list to 1,200 will be deemed not to be committed. Similarly, a practice that treats 1,500 children as NHS patients, but less than 100 adult fee-paying patients is also deemed not to be committed.


The British Dental Association (BDA) is the professional association for dentists in the UK. It represents over 20,000 dentists working in general practice, in community and hospital settings, in academia and research, and in the armed forces.

British Dental Association