Patients are paying for “stealthy cuts” to the English dental budget, with NHS costs for treatments rising by around 45% over the past decade, while public spending has been cut in real terms, a new analysis has found.
Increases of 4% on NHS dental costs will be implemented next month, with patients now footing the bill for around a quarter of the £3 billion dental budget.
Dentists say there is a £1.5 billion “black hole” in NHS funding as government funding has not kept pace with the rise in patient costs. Shawn Charlwood, chairman of the British Dental Association’s general dental practice committee, said: “Our patients have paid the price for covert cuts without an equal increase in NHS funding. Civil servants have bled this service dry.”
The BDA, the trade union and professional body for dentists, will this week give evidence to Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee on the impact of underfunding on dentistry. The association says many patients delay or do not receive treatment due to costs.
Dentistry is in crisis in many parts of England, with many patients unable to find an NHS dentist. The government announced a recovery plan last month, offering incentives for dentists to take on more NHS patients.
An analysis of NHS dental costs shows that band 1 costs, including check-ups, diagnosis and preventative care, have risen from £18.50 in April 2014 to £26.80 from April 1 this year, an increase of almost 45%. The cost of band 2, including fillings and extractions, has risen from £50.50 to £73.50 over the same period, an increase of over 45%.
From 2014-15 to 2022-23 (the most recent year available), net government spending on the dental budget increased from £2.03 billion to £2.15 billion, an increase of around 6%. The BDA says that if government funding had kept pace with patient costs since 2010, the total dental budget would be more than £4.5 billion.
BDA officials warn the cuts have had a profound impact on patients. They also believe that the £200 million announced for the new dental recovery plan is not new money but is based on recycling funds in existing budgets.
Louise Ansari, chief executive of Healthwatch England, which is health and social care champion for the country, said: “It is disappointing that the government has decided to increase dental costs this year, despite the fact that last year’s increase of 8.5% was the highest in recent years. file. “NHS dentistry needs fundamental reform to attract and attract more dentists, reduce the cost of dental treatment and improve access for all.”
Ansari said a lack of access to dental care was placing a burden on other parts of the NHS, with tooth extraction now the leading cause of hospital admission in children aged between six and 10.
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Results from a tracker survey conducted by Healthwatch England in January showed that around one in five people (21%) avoided visiting the dentist due to the cost of dental treatment. Healthwatch England says dentistry remains one of the top concerns, with large parts of the population struggling to find a dentist to take NHS patients.
NHS England was contacted for a comment.
NHS England was