Dentists Should Carry Out More NHS Work

Mon, 23 Mar 2009

Dentists who have had their training funded by the government should be forced to spend more time on NHS patients, according to a report by the New Local Government Network.

The NLGN, a think tank which specialises in public service reform, said that dentists who undergo five years of training paid for by the taxpayer should be made to devote at least half of their time treating NHS patients in a bid to improve access to NHS dentistry .

The report claims many dentists work within the NHS for just one year before moving into the private sector, which is inadequate, given the fact that their training has cost the average taxpayer £175,000 and that more than two million Brits remain without access to NHS treatment .

Around 3,000 dentists in the UK are believed to working solely on private patients, while another 4,000 are spending less than 25 per cent of their time on NHS patients.

To tackle the situation, the NLGN said dentists could be compelled to spend half of their time carrying out NHS treatment in return for their training.

Nigel Keohane, author of the report, said patients should be given the "right to demand NHS treatment in their PCT ".

"Contractual arrangements appear to force suppliers to either open their book entirely to NHS patients or exclude them completely," he added.

"Instead, a more nuanced commissioning framework could involve private dentists in part-time NHS work. This could be facilitated by making NHS-trained dentists practice a proportion – perhaps 50 per cent – of their surgery under NHS terms."
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