Patients Forced To Go Private

Dental changes 'force patients to go private'

Dental patients are being forced to go private because of changes to NHS provision introduced last year, a survey has found.

The survey of more than 5,000 people from the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health found that a quarter used private dentistry. Of those, more than three-quarters said they were forced into it because their own dentist went private or they could not find an NHS dentist. Only 15% said they had gone private to get better care.
The survey also found that 20% of patients had refused dental treatment because of high cost and 6% had treated themselves at some point. Patients interviewed described taking out their own teeth or fixing broken crowns with glue.

Just over 10% of respondents said they were not registered with a dentist at all. Of those, 35% said there were no NHS dentists nearby, 22% said they did not know how to find one and 13% said they were on a waiting list.

Of the 750 dentists polled, 84% said their new contract, introduced in 2006, had failed to improve access to NHS services for patients. Almost half said they are not accepting any more NHS patients and 58% said the quality of care has deteriorated since the introduction of the contract.
Norman Lamb MP, Liberal Democrat shadow health secretary, said the failure to improve NHS dentistry was "another broken promise" by the government.
"If ministers continue with this complacent attitude, there is a serious danger that NHS dentistry will become a thing of the past," he said.

Health Insurance Magazine: 17 October 2007