BDA Ask Questions Of NHS Dentistry Funding

Thu, 11 Oct 2007

The British Dental Association, in response to the recent announcement of the Comprehensive Spending Review, has called on the government to ensure that NHS dentistry funding is in line with funding for other sectors of the NHS .

Despite the unprecedented investment in the National Health Service, the BDA estimates that the proportion of NHS funding allocated to its dentistry depatment has actually fallen from roughly 3.1 per cent (2002-03) to 2.8 per cent for this year.

In addition, the National Audit Office has revealed that there was an increase of 75 per cent in overall NHS funding per capita between 1990-91 to 2003-04, while spending on high street dentistry per capita during the same period rose by only nine per cent.

Chief Executive of the BDA, Peter Ward, said: "Investment in NHS dentistry remains inadequate as the government itself acknowledges that around two million people who want to access NHS dental care are unable to do so."

"If people are to get the NHS dental care they want, then the level of spending on dentistry must catch up with the investment in the rest of the NHS ."

He added "It's also crucial that primary care trusts, now responsible for commissioning local dentistry, understand the history of underspending which has seen dentistry lag behind other areas of health care . "
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