Wesleyan’s Head of Dental responds to BBC report
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 9th August 2022
Iain Stevenson, Head of Dental at Wesleyan, the financial services mutual, has responded to yesterday’s BBC report, which investigated the extent of the NHS dental access crisis.
Iain said: “Dentists are working tirelessly to support patients. But they’re battling an NHS contract that’s not fit for purpose, struggling to attract and retain staff and facing soaring operational costs in everything from energy to equipment.
“Simply, the sector isn’t getting the help it needs. The £50m funding injection announced in by the government in January was a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of support required to make a real difference. Meanwhile, the changes made to the NHS England dental contract in July were just modest tinkering – window dressing that simply won’t, for the majority of dentists, transform a system that doesn’t pay them fairly for their work.
“This research paints a bleak picture. Dentists have been, and will continue to, go above and beyond for their patients, but they simply can’t do more than they currently are doing in this current system.”
