Govt ‘failed to improve Scottish NHS access’

Government promises to improve access to NHS dentistry have not been kept, it has been claimed.

Derek Harper, vice-chair of the British Dental Association’s Scottish dental practice committee, has called for the Scottish Government Health Department to take action to ensure all dentists providing NHS care are recognised as being committed to the NHS.

He made his comments after figures compiled by the BDA revealed that almost one-third of Scottish dental practices which are providing treatment to NHS patients do not qualify as being committed to the health service.

Mr Harper asserted that it is more than three years since the Dental Action Plan pledged to improve NHS dentistry access.

“The action plan also introduced the flawed definition of commitment that means a significant number of dentists providing a large amount of NHS care still aren’t recognised as being committed to the NHS,” he argued.

Recently, the BDA warned that in England, half a million people lost access to NHS dentistry since the reforms were made in April 2006.