Dentists' warnings about the destabilising impact of the new contract were proved correct, delegates heard today at a large gathering of dentists in Birmingham.
Speaking at the annual Local Dental Committees' conference, the Chair of the British Dental Association's General Dental Practice Committee, Dr Lester Ellman said:
"We were right to be concerned about the problems caused by a target-driven contract - but when the result is the destabilisation and demoralisation of so much of the profession, being proved right gives little satisfaction."
In his review of developments since the contract was implemented in April 2006, Dr Ellman told delegates that it had been a tough year for both dentists and patients and warned that the uncertainty would continue.
To safeguard the dental budget at local level, he called on the government to pay the full budget to primary care trusts to avoid the shortfalls, in some cases running into millions that were seen at the end of the contract year.
Dr Ellman also said the focus on the units of dental activity - as the only measure used to assess dentists' output - must be shifted and instead a range of indicators used to monitor the contracts.
He said: "The feedback from the BDA's survey of dentists showed that 93% didn't believe that the new contract encouraged a more preventive approach to care, 95% were less confident about the future of the NHS than two years earlier, and 97% said they were still on a treadmill."
-- The British Dental Association (BDA) is the professional association for dentists in the UK. It represents over 20,000 dentists working in general practice, in community and hospital settings, in academia and research, and in the armed forces.
-- The Local Dental Committees' annual conference was held at the Birmingham Metropole Hotel, National Exhibition Centre on 8th of June 2007.
-- Dr Lester Ellman's Report to the LDC Conference on which this press release is based is available in full here (PDF Format).
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