NHS dentistry targets are "undermining" care of patients, warns Yorkshire MP

It comes as Judith Cummins has been contacted by a whistle-blower from the UK’s largest dentistry chain – MyDentist – telling dentists to prioritise check-ups over providing treatment to patients in order to meet new NHS targets introduced as part of the pandemic response.

Mrs Cummins told the Commons yesterday that NHS dentistry targets in this country are actively undermining patient access to urgent treatments during the pandemic.

She said an urgent review was needed as the current system incentivises routine check-ups above those in severe pain.

Speaking during a statement on Covid-19, the Bradford South MP, said: "It is now clear that the newly imposed NHS dentistry targets are in fact actively undermining patient access to urgent treatments during the pandemic as I warned they would.

"Last week a whistle-blower at the UK’s largest dental chain with over 600 practices – MyDentist - sent me an internal memo that advised them to prioritise routine check-ups over treatments in order to meet the new targets."

The call to action comes as the British Dental Association (BDA) has condemned the current targets for forcing dentists to prioritise volume over need.

Since 1 January 2021 NHS practices in England have faced steep financial penalties for failing to hit 45 per cent of their pre-pandemic activity levels.

It is easier to achieve these perverse targets through routine care, as opposed to time consuming urgent treatment, that the BDA say need to remain a priority.

Previously Bradford MP Judith Cummins also said that NHS dentistry in this country was already in a “sorry state” before Covid struck.

She said the current system was therefore “extremely vulnerable” to what has happened since March, last year.

Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health, said: “I want to thank our nation's dentists who have worked incredibly hard to get dentistry services going again.

"It is very important that we support them and the financial incentives underpin the need to restart as much as is possible.

“It is of course challenging to deliver dentistry services given there are so many aerosol generating procedures.

"I will ask the Dentistry Minister to speak to the hon. lady and perhaps meet with her to discuss the ongoing challenges.”

Speaking afterwards Mrs Cummins added: "Week in week out I’m contacted by people who need dental treatment.

"I am determined that the Government does not get this wrong by setting the wrong targets at the wrong time with the consequence of my constituents not being able to access an NHS dentist.

"I’m looking forward to meeting the Minister to explain this to her."

A spokeswoman for MyDentist, said: "These claims are untrue and we are writing to the Member for Parliament asking her to correct the record. The briefing that has been referred to was based directly on NHS guidance to explain the activity targets in England and to support clinicians in growing capacity and managing their diaries in order to meet them.

"At no point in the document – or indeed any document we have issued – is there any suggestion that routine treatment should be prioritised over urgent or emergency care. In fact, the briefing explicitly states that emergency patients should continue to be prioritised on the same day that triage takes place.

"Throughout the pandemic, MyDentist has done everything possible to support urgent and emergency patients, including across more than 70 Urgent Dental Care centres around the country, more than any other provider.

"We are continuing to follow all NHS and Government guidelines and are working hard to meet NHS England’s activity targets so that more patients can safely get access to the care they need.”

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