This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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'Golden hello' package for NHS dentists
25/04/2002
A 'golden hello' package to improve the recruitment and
retention of NHS dentists in remote and rural parts of
Scotland, and improve patients' access to NHS dental
treatment, was unveiled today.
The initial £1m package will encourage more dentists to
work within the NHS and improve access to dental services
in remote and rural Scotland, including Orkney, Shetland,
Western Isles, Highland, Borders, Dumfries and Galloway,
Grampian, and Lomond and Argyll.
Key features of the package will include:
- providing funding to support a vocational training
place for every dental graduate in Scotland;
- providing allowances of £3000 to each newly qualified
dentist taking up their training year in remote and rural
areas, to help tackle recruitment and retention issues;
- offering grants of up to £10,000, based on the amount
of work carried out in the NHS, to dentists anywhere in
Scotland establishing a new vocational training practice
and offering a training place to a newly qualified
dentist;
- providing allowances of £5000 over two years to
dentists who have completed their vocational training and
who are entering substantive general dental services
practice, or £10,000 over two years to those taking up
similar posts in remote and rural areas. These payments
will be subject to the dentist having a substantial NHS
commitment and remaining in the areas for at least three
years, and
- developing and funding an education and support
programme for all new dentists who have completed their
vocational training
Announcing details of the measures during a visit to
Glasgow Dental School today, Deputy Health Minister Mary
Mulligan said:
"We are starting to see some improvements in the
nation's dental health - thanks in part to the efforts of
the dental profession. However, more than half of five
year-olds still have signs of dental disease and 18 per
cent of adults have none of their own teeth.
"To achieve our target that by 2010, 60 per cent of five
year-olds should have no dental disease, and that less than
five per cent of 45 to 54 year-olds should have no natural
teeth, we must all step up our efforts to improve the
population's dental health. Efforts which will require a
partnership approach between the Scottish Executive, dental
profession and the general public.
"Ensuring that people have access to local NHS dental
treatment is an important part of that process. We have
been aware for some time that there are difficulties in
some parts of Scotland in recruiting and retaining
practitioners to work in general dental services,
particularly in remote and rural parts of Scotland. And
some dentists have chosen to reduce their commitment to the
NHS.
"Today's initial package of measures, agreed in
discussion with the British Dental Association in Scotland,
will provide a major step forward in terms of addressing
those problems. The additional £1m will help fund £3000
'golden hellos' for all newly qualified dentists, taking up
substantive posts in rural Scotland. And it will also help
fund grants of up to £10,000 to existing dentists, who
establish a new vocational training practice and offer a
place to those qualifying this summer, helping them to
ensure appropriate standards are met for such training.
"One of the other important features of these new
allowances and grants is that they will reward a dentist's
commitment to the NHS. Therefore
practices which carry out substantial NHS work will
benefit the most, while those which treat mainly private
patients, will receive less. This will help ensure that in
the months and years to come, more patients throughout the
country will be access to NHS dental treatment.
"In the longer terms, we will also be looking to build
on these measures further and will be discussing with the
BDA other steps which can be taken to address issues of
recruit and retention within the dental profession, and
help ensure a better future for Scotland's dental
health."
Alastair MacLean, Scottish Secretary of the BDA,
said:
''BDA in Scotland have worked hard with the Scottish
Executive Health
Department to develop these initiatives, which we
welcome. The BDA would regard this as a first step in
addressing what we believe are increasingly acute dental
workforce shortages in Scotland. The effectiveness of these
initiatives will need to be monitored and further
strategies may need to be agreed if found necessary''
The measures unveiled today are part of a phased
programme to tackle the recruitment and retention of
dentists in remote and rural parts of Scotland, and ensure
patients are able to access to NHS dental treatment.
We have true shortages and also artificial shortages due
to restriction of access to NHS dental treatment through
some dentists concentrating on private work. Examples of
problems -
- Western Isles have recently lost several dentists and
is six dentists down at present
- there are numerous practices in Grampian which have
been unable to recruit dentists despite repeated
adverts
- Dumfries and Galloway NHS Board, where there are
currently 6.3 whole time equivalent vacancies at present,
are looking at recruiting from Ireland to help fill
posts
- Highland has true shortages and access difficulties
i.e. as well as shortages these are made more extreme by
some practitioners only offering adults private treatment.
Between 1 April 2001 and end of December 2001, 3300 people
contacted the Board or Primary Care Trust for help to find
a dentist, and
- various Boards including, Highland, the Island Boards,
Grampian and Dumfries and Galloway NHS Boards have all
highlighted to the Health Department, difficulties in
recruiting both to salaried dental posts and to family
dentist posts
Today's package has been agreed with the British Dental
Association (Scotland) through discussions between its
members and the Health Department. It focuses on
trainee/newly qualified dentists because it was agreed that
it was essential to encourage as many graduates as possible
to remain in Scotland for and after their training.
In addition to the measures announces today, the
Scottish Executive will also be looking at a range of other
measures to improve recruitment and retention of NHS
dentists.
Efforts to improve the national's dental health are
already being taken forward through the Action Plan for
Dental Services in Scotland. This has included providing
free toothbrushes and toothpaste to children under 12
months and infants in deprived areas, and launching a
fissure sealant programme for every six and seven year-old,
which seals their teeth with a protective coating to
prevent plaque from forming and reduce their need for
fillings. This is being combined with a programme of
preventative work including toothbrushing instruction and
dietary advice.
In November 2001, the Scottish Executive announced that
£3.8m from the Primary Care Modernisation Fund would be
invested in NHS dental services, with the priority areas
being the creation of more child friendly areas in dental
surgeries, better access for disabled people and the
installation state of the art equipment. It is hoped that
by establishing dedicated areas for children within dental
surgeries that this will tackle many children's fear of the
dentist and encourage more children to return for regular
check-ups.