By JANE KIRBY
A NEW contract for dentists is failing to improve services for patients, a committee of MPs said today.
Changes in how dentists are paid may mean they have no financial incentive to give appropriate treatment, it suggests.
Evidence presented to the Commons Health Select Committee found that the number of tooth extractions has risen since the new contract was introduced, while the volume of more complex work like crowns, bridges and dentures has fallen by 57%.
Dentists used to be paid a fee for each item of treatment they provided but they now receive an annual income in return for carrying out an agreed amount of work, known as units of dental activity (UDAs).
Today’s report said it was “extraordinary” that the Department of Health did not carry out pilot studies on the UDA system before introducing it across England.
And it said that, despite assurances from the Government that the new arrangements would work if PCTs (Primary Care Trusts) and dentists acted more flexibly and used common sense and goodwill, the committee “saw little evidence this will happen”.
It also found little evidence that preventative care has increased – one of the Government’s key aims for the contract.
The British Endodontic Society (BES) also said the new contract provided dentists with a “financial incentive to persuade a patient to have a decayed tooth extracted rather than undergo the more complex procedure of restoring it,” the report said.
MPs also heard how the number of patients being referred to dental hospitals and community dentists shot up following the introduction of the new contract in April 2006.
Dentists now had no financial incentive to treat complex cases, the MPs heard.
The MPs said in their report: “We are concerned about the increase in referrals of patients requiring complex treatment to dental hospitals and community dentists.
“This can be bad for those patients who would prefer to be treated by their general dental practitioner and can also have adverse effects on patients who are traditionally treated in these settings and have to wait longer for treatment.”
Figures released last month showed almost a million fewer people are now seeing an NHS dentist than before the Government’s reforms.
Committee chairman and Labour MP Kevin Barron said: “It is disappointing that so far the new dental contract has failed to improve the patient’s experience of dental services.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: “We will carefully consider the Committee’s recommendations and respond formally to them.
“It takes time for the extra services now being commissioned to feed through into the access figures that currently do not provide an up to date picture.”
(c) 2008 Evening Chronicle – Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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