Plan to boost NHS dental treatments ‘not on track’

The £200m rescue package to increase access to NHS dentistry this year is not on track, a spending watchdog says.

The dental recovery plan published by the Conservative government in February set a target of 1.5 million extra treatments in 2024-25.

To achieve that, dentists were offered an increase in payments for seeing NHS patients as well as a premium top-up payment of up to £50 for taking on new patients.

Mobile dental vans were also due to be rolled out to target the areas with the worst access.

But the National Audit Office says slow progress means those goals for this year will likely be missed.

It acknowledges the general election is a factor, but says the new government must reflect on the long-standing problems in NHS dentistry.

The target to increase the number of treatments by 1.5 million to 37.1 million this year would still leave the NHS below the activity levels seen in 2018-19.

And at the time it was published dentists criticised the lack of ambition, saying it would not do enough to encourage dentists to do more NHS work.

More than a fifth of dentists are thought to do solely private work.

The plan included a £5 increase to £28 for each unit of NHS activity alongside a premium payment worth up to £50 to see patients who had not seen an NHS dentist for two years.

By September 2024, there had been an increase in the number of dental practices taking on new NHS patients, the NAO said, but this has still not led to an increase in treatments being done beyond what would have been expected without the extra payments.

The NAO also noted no new dental vans were in operation yet – these mobile units were seen as key part of the solution to boosting access in the areas most struggling.

The plan also included some longer-term measures, including “golden hellos” of £20,000 to recruit dentists to work in specific regions over three years, and Smile for Life – a dental decay prevention scheme targeted at young children.

Shawn Charlwood, of the British Dental Association, said the NAO report showed more fundamental reform of the NHS dental contract was needed.

“We warned at the outset that this recovery plan was unworthy of the title.

“Unfunded, unambitious policies failed to make a dent in a crisis hitting millions.”

Louise Ansari, of the patient watchdog Healthwatch England, said she agreed NHS dentistry needed to be urgently reformed.

“Overall, the NAO paints a picture of delayed and confused efforts.”

Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said the government had inherited a recovery plan that was “not fit for purpose” and it would be developing further measures to improve access.

“This government is committed to rebuilding dentistry, but it will take time,” he added.