The President of the College of General Dentistry, Dr Roshni Karia MCGDent, has attended a meeting to help inform a National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into NHS dentistry.
The public spending watchdog, which supports Parliament in holding government to account for its expenditure, is in the process of looking into how the previous government developed its ‘Dental Recovery Plan’ for NHS Dentistry, what progress has been made since the plan was announced, and how the government plans to evaluate and monitor its impact.
The College was among the organisations invited to give evidence on the extent and nature of any involvement of the profession in the development of the dental recovery plan; what opportunities there have been to engage with the ongoing delivery of the plan; and how it assesses the likely impact of specific measures in the plan.
The Dental Recovery Plan, announced in February 2024, set out a range of initiatives, both new and previously-announced, intended to help tackle some of the many longstanding problems facing NHS dental provision in England. These included a Smile For Life programme, a new patient premium, mobile dental vans, the use of private practices to deliver NHS care, a ‘golden hello’ for new graduates, an increase in dental school places, medicines exemptions for dental hygienists and therapists, an increase in the minimum value of a Unit of Dental Activity (UDA), more community water fluoridation, more places and sittings for the Overseas Registration Examination and Licentiate in Dental Surgery, faster entry to the NHS Performers List, provisional registration, and the identification of qualifications from outside the European Economic Area which meet the required standard for GDC registration.
The College was not involved in the development of the Dental Recovery Plan, and following its publication issued a point-by-point response.
An update on the new patient premium, minimum UDA value, ‘golden hellos’ and mobile dental vans was published by NHS England in May. The College continues to engage in discussions around introducing medicines exemptions and expanding community water fluoridation, both of which are longstanding government policy, and has also participated in early discussion of provisional registration.
The NAO is expected to publish its report later this year.
