Dentists' withdrawal from NHS work is intensifying a crisis in patient access to treatment, as reported by the British Dental Association (BDA). Rising costs and stagnant fees have rendered NHS work unsustainable, driving practitioners to subsidize NHS services with income from private dental work. Recent analyses indicated that dentists lost significant amounts per procedure, highlighting how practices operate like charities. The challenging conditions have led to demoralization within the profession, prompting calls for government intervention, as echoed by health secretary Wes Streeting's warnings about the dire state of NHS dentistry.
Dentists are increasingly stopping doing NHS-funded work because their fees for many procedures do not even cover the costs involved.
The situation was so serious that dentists were in effect subsiding the NHS care they provided from their private work to the tune of about 332m a year.
Demoralised dentists are walking away from a system that is forcing practices to operate like a charity, said Shiv Pabary.
This service is running on empty, kept afloat by private work and goodwill which is now in very short supply.
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