• 11/2/2004
  • Medical News Editor
  • Medical News Today

HSA welcome the clarity from NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) today about dental patient visit frequency guidelines. Yet despite the reduction in demand that this will create, with 12 months to go until the implementation of the new NHS dental contracts, the crisis in NHS dentistry is set to worsen.

HSA research shows that even with Government promises to make NHS dentistry better, dentists are already leaving the NHS ahead of the new patient and practitioner contracts and state dentistry is more difficult to access than ever.

HSA research released today shows:

— Despite the investment in the NHS over recent years, more than a third of UK adults think that NHS dentistry is getting worse, with only 11% believing it is improving.

— This decline is worse in rural areas, with the experience of 46% adults of NHS dentistry getting worse – reflecting the emphasis in government investment in dental access centres only in major conurbations.

— There are already 11 million adults in the UK without a dentist and there is no doubt that difficulty in accessing and affording dentistry affects the nation’s oral health.

— Dentists are already reacting to the new proposed practitioner contract and are leaving NHS dentistry, believing it uneconomic for them.

It is not yet known what the new patient contract will hold, even though there is less than a year before implementation. HSA believes the delay will lead to more dentists leaving NHS dentistry, and calls for speedier action by the Government. With diseases such as mouth cancer increasing by 17% over the last four years, access to oral health check ups providing early identification are vital. This year’s Mouth Cancer Awareness week will run from November 7-13.

Jeremy Chadwick, spokesperson for HSA explains “We welcome the guidance from NICE about frequency of dentist visits. However, it would be better if the Government focused on providing people in the UK with the access to NHS dentists that they want and give clarity about what it will cost people in 2005 through communication of the new contract terms. If people are being forced into the private sector by these changes then UK families need to know now, not later, so they can plan financially for the extra costs this will impose on them.”

“As an organisation that works alongside the NHS and private dentistry, HSA are concerned that people will needlessly miss out on vital oral check ups and dental treatment because they can’t find a state dentist”, Chadwick said. “If current trends continue, this will only get much worse”.

Notes:

— For the sake of a few pounds a month, individuals and families can cut the cost of NHS dental treatment, or choose to access treatment in the private sector if they cannot find an NHS dentist through an HSA health cash plan.

— HSA was formerly known as “The Hospital Saving Association” although now trades under the name “HSA” providing Health Cash Plans and Personal Medical Plans.

— Health Cash Plans are designed to provide a funding solution to help meet the cost of everyday healthcare. Cash benefits include cover for a number of healthcare related charges including: optical, dental, osteopathy, chiropractic, complementary therapies, consultation, health screening, chiropody, physiotherapy and hospital in-patient to name a few.

— Personal Medical Plans provide private medical cover for treatment in the UK. This includes initial private consultations, through to specialist, hospital and aftercare treatment. As with all HSA products the emphasis is on affordability, simplicity and ease of use.

— As with all private medical insurance products, cover and acceptance of individual members is subject to HSA’s usual terms and conditions, which are available on request from HSA.

— The HSA group also comprises Leeds based health plan provider, LHF.

The entire group has 1.1 million policy holders providing cover for some 2 million people.

— For more information on Mouth Cancer Awareness Week, please contact the British Dental Health Foundation on 0870 7704014 or visit http://www.dentalhealth.org.uk