Sent on behalf of Shawn Charlwood, Chair GDPC
This morning, I was pleased to meet with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting MP. I was glad to see Wes delivering on his long-standing promise to meet us on the Monday following the election and our discussions were constructive and positive.
Over the weekend, Wes has made clear that his starting point is that the NHS is broken. Of course, he doesn’t need to tell us that. We’ve all known that NHS dentistry is broken and has been for some time. However, the first step towards saving NHS dentistry is admitting we have a problem and a severe one. It was refreshing to hear that level of honesty about the scale of the challenge we face, and that failed contracts and underfunding have fueled the current crisis. This recognition is a starting point that could be the key to breaking the impasse on fundamental reform of the service.
From our meeting, it was clear that we have a number of shared ambitions. We discussed the immediate actions that needed to be taken to rescue and rebuild NHS dentistry. I took the opportunity to make the case for increasing the minimum UDA value to £35 and enhancing the New Patient Premium. The new Government’s priority is to deliver its manifesto pledge to increase urgent appointments, and we are happy to work with them to implement the sessional schemes that have proved a success locally as a national approach.
We also made the case for the valuable role of private dentistry in meeting patients’ needs within our system, and highlighted that the mixed economy within dentistry chimes with how Labour has talked about the relationship between the NHS and private healthcare.
There was also discussion of the need for fundamental change over the longer term. I made plain, as you would expect, that the UDA has to go, and the sooner the better. There was clear openness to continue ongoing engagement with him and his ministerial team to explore how we can bring about that reform.
I was encouraged by the willingness to meet with us on a regular basis and we will ensure that this happens in the weeks ahead. We will, as ever, engage constructively, pursuing the best deal for the profession and our patients. We take absolutely nothing for granted, and will hold this Government to account as we did the last.
You can see Wes’ message following our meeting :
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Kind regards,
Clint Foreman
(Asst. Sec. Essex LDC)
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