The NHS continues to implode. Now dentists are leaving the service, perhaps leading to a collapse of socialized dentistry. From the story:
Contract changes that have seen more than 1,000 dentists leave the health service threaten to bring about the end of NHS dentistry, MPs will be warned next week. The introduction of financial penalties for missing targets has already seen twice as many dentists leave the NHS as the Government estimated.
Thousands more are questioning their future in the NHS because of the uncertainty surrounding their earnings, the British Dental Association (BDA) said. Already the changes have left an estimated one million extra patients without access to a dentist. Almost one in three children do not receive any form of dental care…
Dentists also complain that they have less time to advise patients on how to prevent future dental problems because of the “treadmill” conditions they are forced to work under. The future of NHS dentistry is “at risk”, the BDA says in written evidence to the committee, because “dentists are facing financial penalties derived from untested targets”. The BDA also accuses the government of “chronically underfunding” dental services. Spending on dentistry in the NHS is now just 2.8 per cent of the overall budget, less than in 2002.
Did you see the part where it states that that one in three children have no dental care? In a prosperous country like the UK? British teeth deserve better.
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