Tories launch emergency plan to recruit foreign dentists as NHS service failing
An emergency plan to recruit foreign-trained dentists to prop up the NHS service has been launched by the Government.
Dentists with qualifications obtained overseas will now go through a fast-tracked registration process to work in the UK. It comes in response to a chronic shortage of dentists and a collapse in access to NHS dentists.
Last week Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled his NHS dentistry “rescue plan” which did nothing to reform the flawed NHS payment contract or reverse a decade of real terms funding cuts. This second announcement follows criticism the plan will do nothing to stem the exodus of dentists from the NHS into private practice.
There are currently a record number of dentists registered to practise with the General Dental Council but the number of dentists undertaking NHS activity in England has fallen to levels not seen since 2016/17.
The British Dental Association said there is no evidence that overseas dentists are any more willing to maintain a long-term commitment to the NHS “failed system” than their UK counterparts. BDA chair Eddie Crouch said: “A broken contract is forcing dentists out of the NHS with every day it remains in force. Overseas dentists are no more likely to stick with a failed system than their UK colleagues. Ministers need to stop trying to fill a leaky bucket and actually fix it.”
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The Mirror is campaigning for a return to access to an NHS dentist for all and our online petition launched on Friday has topped 150,000 signatures in its second week. Nine out of ten dental practices are no longer accepting new adult NHS patients. There are currently more than 5,500 dental vacancies in the UK where per capita there is among the lowest number of dentists in the EU.
Dentistry Minister Andrea Leadsom said: “Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions and our proposals would abolish red tape that currently prevents fully qualified overseas dentists from working in this country, while ensuring the highest standards of care and patient safety.”
Three in ten of all dentists on the General Dental Council (GDC) register qualified outside of the UK. The rate of foreign dentists in the service is growing with 46% of new additions to the register trained overseas in 2022. A similar surge in the percentage of foreign recruits has been seen across the NHS amid a slowing of the domestic pipeline into the workforce. Critics have argued this is a short term strategy that also poaches medics from developing countries that desperately need them.
The Government has launched a consultation on plans to allow the GDC to provisionally register dentists with overseas qualifications to work here while they go through exams to prove their competency. It says exams can currently take years to complete.
Jason Wong, Chief Dental Officer for NHS England, said: “Improving access to dental appointments for patients is a priority for the NHS and increasing the number of dentists available would make it easier for patients to get the dental care they need. The NHS dental recovery plan represents an important milestone for dental services across the country and these proposals could be another vital step towards transforming NHS dental services to ensure faster access for patients.”
The new plan includes a New Patient Premium for dentists to receive a bonus of between £15 and £50 for treating someone who has not had a check up for two years. The minimum amount paid to dentists for NHS treatments will also rise from £23 to £28. However only 900 of the 8,000 practices in England are not currently getting a £28 minimum so a minority of practices will benefit from the uplift.
Crucially it is unclear whether the new NHS dentistry budget will be increased under the Tories rescue plan. It has flatlined at around £3 billion in England for the last decade which after inflation has meant a real terms cut of around £1 billion. The funding squeeze means the contract effectively caps the number of NHS patients dentists can be paid to treat.
The NHS contract - which pays dentists the same amount for three fillings as 20 - has been declared “not fit for purpose” by the Health and Social Care Select Committee.
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