Beith visits dentist - new NHS contract leaves lots of holes to be filled

12.01.22pm GMT Wed 15th Nov 2006

Alnwick dentists Jeremy and Valda Butterworth have met local MP Alan Beith to talk over their concerns about the new NHS contract for dentists.

The Butterworths, who run the Garden Lodge Dental Practice in Alnwick, are committed to the NHS and want to remain a part of it. However, there are so many problems with the new contract that they have been left wondering how the Department of Health expects them to manage. They explained to Alan Beith that the new contract was meant to guarantee more time with patients and a simpler system of charges. But instead they have been left with a system that is confusing for patients, has charges which do not reflect the work done, and is demoralising for dentists.

Alan Beith said

"It was very interesting to hear the dentists' perspective. I have been following the issue of dental services closely. Over the last 18 months or so I have been contacting dental surgeries regularly to ask for an update on the number of patients waiting to be seen and the numbers of NHS dentists available throughout the constituency. I have been holding regular meetings with the senior management from Northumberland Care Trust and this information has been very useful.

"I was worried that the new dental contract would be as problematic as the new GP contract which was introduced two years ago, and sadly this seems to be the case.

"People need to know that they have a local dentists who will see them for emergency treatment and for regular check-ups. The new contract has ended the registration with a dentist, removing the continuity of a dentist-patient relationship. This in itself has created uncertainly and confusion for the patients, who don't know whether their dentist s still their dentist, and whether they will receive regular check-up reminders."

Alan heard how charges have been simplified, but that patients may be paying much more for their treatment under the new system. Before April 2006, the minimum charge for a filling was £7.40 but now it is £42.40. Patients now pay just one of three charges - £15.50 for a check-up, £42.40 for fillings and £189 for crowns or other complex work. The dentists are also affected, as to be paid they need to amass points - or Units of Dental Activity - rather than just detailing what treatments they have carried out.

"We are given points for different treatments," says Valda Butterworth. "But the amount of points does not reflect the amount of time which is spent on carrying out the treatment. We are still offering patients a choice, for instance, between root fillings and extractions - a root filling takes upwards of two hours, whereas an extraction can take under 30 minutes. Either treatment gives us the same points."

The same is true of fillings. Jeremy Butterworth explains, "If all the fillings are identified at the same time, then that is one treatment, and we get three points - regardless of whether that is for one small filling or several large ones, which takes much longer."

Alan Beith added

"I have previously asked the Department of Health for assurances about the ongoing provision for dental services. I will be asking again about the ring-fencing of NHS funds for the provision of dental services from 2009, when dentistry is to become just part of the overall NHS budget. It seems to me we could end up with no NHS dental services at all.

"For dentists who are committed to the NHS like Jeremy and Valda, this would be a very real tragedy."

Alan Beith MP and Alnwick dentist Jeremy Butterworth discuss the impact of the new dental contract for NHS patients and dentists.