BDA: Fifth of NHS dentistry posts vacant, with half a million days lost
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 15th November 2024
The British Dental Association has said new data is now showing the real depth and breadth of the workforce crisis in NHS dentistry.
NHS England data – published for the first time today – indicates that as of March 2024 over a fifth of positions (21%) for NHS general dentists were unfilled, with these vacancies amounting to nearly half a million days (495,774) of lost NHS activity. 87% of all dentist vacancies were reported as within the NHS.
Changes in how dentist workforce numbers are measured mean the number of NHS full timers is also less than half of historic estimates. New figures show that while the total number of dentists doing ‘some’ NHS work in England is now placed at 25,367, the number of full time equivalent NHS dentists is just 10,539.
Traditional workforce data has failed to capture the exodus from NHS to private care, with a focus on headcount, not the amount of NHS activity undertaken. The BDA has long warned this gave dentists doing a single NHS check-up a year the same weight as a full timer.
The BDA say the new data serves as a reminder why the Government must move rapidly to honour its pledges to reform the contract fuelling access and workforce crises in NHS dentistry.
Lord Darzi’s independent review of the NHS has echoed the BDA’s call to fix the broken contract. The report observed: “If dentistry is to continue as a core NHS service, urgent action is needed to develop a contract that balances activity and prevention, is attractive to dentists and rewards those dentists who practice in less served areas.”
Recent data from the Office of National Statistics revealed 97% of new patients who attempted to access NHS dental in England care were unsuccessful.
Shawn Charlwood, Chair of the British Dental Association’s General Dental Practice Committee, said: “Past Governments pedalled workforce numbers that were a work of fiction. The reality shows just how deep the crisis in NHS dentistry goes. A fifth of posts now stand empty, and every single vacancy translates in thousands unable to access care. We’ve had promises of reform, but a broken system will push dentists out of the NHS every day it remains in force.”
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