Lord Colwyn
Main Page: Lord Colwyn (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)Department Debates - View all Lord Colwyn's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
Dental Care
Lord Colwyn Excerpts(6 years, 9 months ago)
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Lord O'Shaughnessy
I am afraid I do not recognise the picture that the noble Baroness paints. She is quite right that 25% of five year-olds are not decay-free; obviously, that is not good enough, but that figure has been increasing over the past 10 years. I should also point out that there are more dentists practising in NHS dentistry than ever.
The noble Baroness is quite right that a pilot has been going on in 75 dentists’ surgeries. An evaluation report will be produced by the deputy Chief Dental Officer in the next few months. That will set out the path toward the full reform of the dental contract.
Lord Colwyn (Con)
My Lords, dental care would be improved by the addition of fluoride to the water supply. This has been agreed by my noble friend and his department, but not all water authorities are prepared to take this step. In the last decade, dentists’ average earnings have gone down by a third in real terms. This is of great concern to dentists, who do not receive any government funding and have to cover all costs—equipment, staffing and training—unlike medical general practitioners. I declare an interest as vice-president of the British Fluoridation Society. According to a recent BDA survey, more than half of all dentists intend to leave NHS dentistry in the next five years. Perhaps my noble friend could start by looking at the current salary structures and contractual arrangements.
Lord O'Shaughnessy
We have talked about fluoridation a lot in this House recently. My noble friend knows the position: it is up for local areas to come forward with proposals. On his particular issue about dentists, they are doing a fantastic job in the NHS. We have more of them than ever. I want to point out that the 1% cap that was applied—we know that was because of the fiscal retrenchment that has had to take place in this country—no longer applies; indeed, we are waiting for dental review bodies to report on it so that we can arrange future payments for dentists.