Review Of NHS Dentistry Announced

Mon, 15 Dec 2008

An independent review into NHS dentistry is to be carried out in an effort to discover why Brits are still struggling with access to NHS dentists despite billions of pounds of investment .

Health secretary Alan Johnson has ordered the inquiry in response to continued criticism that the number of people seen by NHS dentists has fallen sharply in some parts of the country since an overhaul of services in 2006.

Mr Johnson said the department has boosted funding for dentistry by more than £2 billion over the last twelve months and increased undergraduate dentist training posts by 25 per cent.

But he added that despite this investment, "there remain areas of the country in which people are unable to find an NHS dentist".

The Department of Health says investment has paid off with improvements in certain parts of the country but acknowledges that "access remains a problem in some areas".

Health professionals have been drafted in to form a review team that aims to identify ways the government and the local NHS can work together to boost access.

The team, which will be led by Professor James Steele, chair in oral health services research at the School of Dental Sciences in Newcastle, will also make recommendations on how funding for dentistry should be allocated to primary care trusts and suggest how workforce planning, training and regulation should be developed.

"I have appointed the independent review team to help us understand what more needs to be done to ensure that every person who wants to visit an NHS dentist can do so," Mr Johnson continued.

"The review team will also advise on how we can ensure that all NHS dental services meet the highest standards of care . We want to make sure that every patient's needs are met and that dentists are carrying out the right level of preventative care ."
add to favouritesnewsletterlink to this pagesend to friendpost comments

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.

Health cover, life insurance and PMIProtect Your Health

Find Critical illness, Life and Private Medical Insurance PMI policies.

Save money on your mortgageSave on Your Mortgage

Would you like to save money on your mortgage? Fill out our quick mortgage enquiry form