Dentists Disappointed by Funding Plans in Northern Ireland

Dentists in Northern Ireland have blasted the current financing plans for General Dental Services as “totally inadequate.” In response to the effects of Covid 19, The Financial Support Scheme was put in place, however, this ceases to apply after April this year. As a result, the new Rebuilding Support Scheme will experience a 25% increase in dental expenses.

Dentists are understandably irritated because previously they had been told the change would be a 35% rise, which is already substantially less than Scotland’s 70%. The concern for the BDA is that dental clinics will move to private care in response to this.

Chair of the Northern Ireland Dental Practice Committee, Ciara Gallagher, said that “Health Service dentistry simply cannot continue this downward trajectory. The latest DoH offer does nothing to address those real costs of delivering dental care, or also provide future certainty.”

She added that “We are likely to face an exodus of dentists away from health service dentistry. Our members expect and deserve more. Our warnings to the Department have been clear in recent months. However, we feel strongly that our words have fallen on deaf ears.”

Dentistry Census records reveal that in the next 2 years, 45% of UK dentists contracted to the NHS want to sell their business. Almost half of respondents have thought about leaving their job- 24% to retire and 24% to quit.

While more than half believe the NHS is a ‘valuable service,’ almost 90% are still unsatisfied in NHS employment.