Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, confirmed on 28th April 2011 that NHS contract values will be increased by 0.5% and will be back dated to 1st April.
In a letter to dental practitioners, Barry Cockcroft, the Chief Dental Officer, confirmed that there will be an increase in the contract value by 0.5%. He also confirmed that as part of the wider Government policy on public spending the Doctors and Dentist Review Board will not make any recommendations on dentist pay for the financial years 2011/12 and 2012/13, this effectively means that there will be a pay freeze for the next two financial years.
To coincide with the Government's drive for efficiency and productively in the NHS, dentists are also expected to increase delivery of services by 4% through patient best practice, preventative advice and treatment.
Mr Cockcroft confirmed that dentists are expected to deliver best practice through treatments outlined in the "Delivering Better Oral Health" toolkit as set out in the web-link below: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_102982.pdf
However, not everyone is pleased with the level of the announced increase. The British Dental Association (BDA) stated that whilst they supported the "prevention-focused activity" the cost of providing the service for extra fluoride varnish has not been recognised in the uplift. John Milne, chair of the BDA's General Dental Practice Committee states:
"The NHS rightly seeks to improve the quality of dental services and to increase the emphasis on disease prevention, but this cannot be done in an environment where not only are dentists incomes frozen, but the continued failure to reimburse expenses puts practices under severe financial pressure."
Conclusion
It seems that the Government's notional pay increase of 0.5% seeks to give with one hand but to take with the other. With the emphasis on delivering and improving services through the implementation of best practice and preventative measures, dentists will be required not only to invest more time but to ensure that the cost of delivering such services are also met.
Across the board, healthcare professionals are now being asked to do more for less.
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