December 2024
Starting from:
£99 + VAT
Format: DOWNLOADABLE PDF
This conference focused on plans for reform to NHS dentistry in England.
It was a timely opportunity for policymakers and stakeholders to discuss the new direction of government policy, and practicalities involved in meeting commitments in the Government’s proposed Dentistry Rescue Plan, including aims to:
- provide an additional 700,000 emergency dental appointments a year
- reform the dental contract
- incentivise dentistry graduates to work in underserved areas
- implement supervised tooth brushing for three to five year-olds, as part of its wider Child Health Action Plan
Taking place following the Budget announcing £22.6bn for day to day spending in the NHS, we expected delegates to look at how this can be allocated and prioritised to address key challenges and pressures in NHS dentistry, as well as the role of Integrated Care Boards in dentistry, following the Health and Social Care Secretary’s announcement that they will lead on developing a neighbourhood care service.
Delegates also considered key priorities following Lord Darzi’s independent review published in September 2024, suggesting urgent action to develop dental contracts that balance activity, prevention and workforce priorities.
The agenda included discussion on strategies for strengthening recruitment and retention in the NHS dentistry workforce while maintaining standards of care, including reducing bureaucracy, spreading services across practitioners, increasing training places, more flexible working, and streamlining registration for overseas dentists. Sessions will consider possible changes to regulations, including referencing services and updating dentistry guidelines.
With the Darzi report highlighting a lack of dentists willing to do NHS work, with rural and coastal communities particularly lacking access, the agenda brought out latest thinking on practical approaches to improving accessibility and tackling geographical inequalities in NHS dentistry. Delegates looked at progress of mobile dental vans, greater use of digital technologies, and golden hello payments to encourage dentists to work in areas where there have been shortages.
There was also a focus on key issues for implementation of initiatives, options for dental contract reform, increasing activity and alternatives to Units of Dental Activity (UDA) measurements, and capitation schemes based on enrolment with a focus on prevention and maintenance.
Sessions considered next steps for building a more preventative model of care in NHS dentistry, including wider fluoridation of water to help prevent tooth decay, approaches to oral health campaigns, and increasing person-centred care, such as following up on previous educational pilot projects for child dentistry. Further sessions looked at the aim in the Child Health Action Plan of introducing a targeted national supervised tooth brushing programme for 3-5 year-olds in order to reduce hospital admissions for children aged under 6 years-old.
We are pleased to have been able to include keynote sessions with: Lee Summerfield, Director, Investigations and Tom Tyson, Senior Audit Manager, NAO; Miranda Steeples, Immediate Past President, British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy; Stefan Czerniawski, Executive Director, Strategy, General Dental Council; and Rebecca Curtayne, External Affairs Manager, Healthwatch England.
Overall, sessions included discussion on:
- workforce:
- priorities for dental contract reform to improve the long-term capacity of the dentistry workforce
- recruitment and retention priorities - assessing increases in availability of training and apprenticeships to support workforce expansion - next steps for fast-track graduate training
- streamlining registration processes - the future outlook of therapist-led care in order to increase workforce capacity and increase the long-term level of dentistry provision
- accessibility:
- improving equity of care and the rollout of 700,000 urgent appointments - widening the scope of workforce utilisation to increase NHS appointments
- approaches to increasing access to routine and emergency dental care as part of the new Government’s Child Health Action Plan
- increasing availability of appointments in under-served communities - sustainable long-term implementation and rollout of plans for mobile dental vans and community-led care
- prevention:
- approaches to paediatric dentistry and the rollout of 100,000 new paediatric dentistry appointments
- implementation of supervised tooth brushing in schools - latest thinking on tackling healthcare inequalities and fluoridation of water
All delegates were able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates.
