THE BATTLE FOR RURAL DENTISTS

 

THE BATTLE FOR RURAL DENTISTS

‘Toothless’ fight bears its fangs

Landworker magazine - Summer 2024 

We are all well aware of the difficulties in getting an NHS dentist – but rural communities face particular problems.

In the recent election run-up the Toothless in England campaign, fed up with the dental health or rural citizens being ignored, ensured all rural candidates knew of their anger.

Unite’s Mark Jones from Suffolk, who works at UK Power Networks and chairs the Unite London and Eastern Energy and Utilities Regional Industrial Sector Committee, led the charge. (in a personal capacity) Starting off at a local level, the campaign soon went regional and then national and is now the patient’s voice.

‘Toothless’ says “Campaigners are conscious that rural communities face extra difficulties in finding and NHS dentist. Their efforts have drawn support from the British Dental Association, a trade union representing 16,000 dentists working in the NHS and private sector.

“What Toothless have achieved is remarkable. Their examples of people that have suddenly had to resort to DIY dentistry have certainly helped, along with other patient representative groups like Health Watch,” said Eddie Crouch, BDA national chair. “It's really important that the patients voice is heard and the huge volume of people that have now written emails to their MPs and raised it up the agenda is due in large part to Toothless.”

According to Mark Jones: “By bringing the NHS dental crisis into sharp focus within local and mainstream media outlets, we have driven the agenda in Westminster, so much so that we have put our case directly to MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee, which has held an inquiry into NHS dentistry, as well as the Department for Health and Social Care.”

North Yorkshire BDA member Ian Gordon, a dentist for 40 years who works in the agricultural market town of Stokesley, now hopes the focus will, following the general election, lead to fixing the problems. He has experienced dentists quitting NHS work. “It’s not because they can earn lots more in the private sector. “

Gordon estimates that an average private dentist might treat 15 patients daily, half the figure for NHS practices. “The NHS way of working is very high-pressured and target-driven. And it drives people to distraction. They eventually say, ‘It's not for me. I want a slower pace of life.’ Working privately means dentists have a more pleasant way of working, and they can spend time with the patient discussing options and not be on a treadmill.”

Rural communities face additional problems in getting NHS dentists to look after them, says Ian because “the numbers wanting to work in rural areas is much smaller. Many have arrived in the UK to train or, if qualified, work and largely they want to live in cities where they have strong family ties rather than in rural North Yorkshire or the Lake District or Lincolnshire.”

According to Gordon, who hates hearing of patients forced to extract their own teeth, his group practice on which he sits on the executive, treats 300,000 NHS patients, many from rural areas,  annually and also “provide a lot of emergency care because the local NHS commissioners, who are good, in the Northeast, Yorkshire and Humber region have done a lot to help create access sessions. We run about 20 sites on a weekly or daily basis where people can be assured of being seen. It does make life lots easier for patients.”

Mark Jones wants to help rural and coastal communities avoid needing emergency care by getting the NHS to develop a system, which has already proved successful when tried in some areas, of “mobile dental units going round where there is inadequate dental care on a regular basis.”

Central to the overall crisis has been the 2006 introduction by New Labour of controversial new contracts for dentists paying them for activity rather than patient numbers. NHS contractors failing to reach at least 96% of their contracted target can face thousands of pounds being claw backed. The BDA frequently helps members considering renegotiating their contract on a temporary or permanent basis.

Under the Tories, not forgetting the Liberal Democrats between 2010 and 2015, there was no political will to solve the problems and even in the wake of the pandemic when Rishi Sunak boosted NHS spending there was no increase for dental care.

Wes Streeting promised to meet with the BDA on Monday July 8^th if Labour were elected. (1) Ian Gordon is not entirely convinced noting that at the same time Streeting, who has accepted donations from private health companies, wrote “a major Times article where dentistry wasn't mentioned. And he continued saying the NHS needs to be free at the point of delivery. Yet NHS dentistry, like other parts of the NHS such as paying for prescriptions, isn't actually free at the point of delivery. I think there's a lot of soundbites there.”

Mark Jones too is not smiling. “Despite successfully highlighting NHS dentistry problems, patients continue to be denied locally provided oral healthcare. We still witness DIY dentistry and hospital admissions resulting from undetected oral cancers. Whoever is in power must actively listen to the patient-focused solutions that will go a long way to fixing the dental crisis.”

Mark was recently asked by a health reporter if he was confident of Toothless achieving their goals. “Confidence has been lacking, as I told her, but we remain hopeful. One thing Toothless in England doesn't lack is determination. We will continue to be the patient voice, and unlike those in Westminster, we will never give up fighting for an NHS dentist for everyone."

If you’d like to get involved with Toothless, which welcomes trade union donations, and perhaps consider setting up a local group, please make contact with Mark on contact@endglandsteeth.org

 

1.       Streeting did keep his promise but failed to outline a programme or promise extra funds to tackle the crisis in NHS dentistry.