Ninety five per cent of dental professionals working within the NHS are less confident in the future of NHS dentistry.
Over 300 NHS dental professionals completed the second NHS Confidence Monitor, an industry survey conducted on behalf of Practice Plan, sharing their views about the future of NHS dentistry, the aim of which is to provide an ongoing survey to gain insight into the profession’s confidence levels in NHS dentistry and provide a snapshot of the mood of the profession going forward, which found confidence in NHS dentistry has reached a new low.
‘I think it’s worrying that so many people have become markedly more despondent since the last survey,’ Eddie Crouch, vice chair of the Birmingham local dental committee, said.
‘I think it’s partly anticipatory and partly because the issue appears to be so low down on the Government’s list.
‘It seems a sad state of affairs and we can only hope that results such as these will persuade the powers that be to look at the situation anew in consultation with representatives of the profession.’
Worrying future
The NHS Confidence Monitor showed that 90% of dentists feel they are less confident about their career prospects within NHS dentistry going forward than they were a year ago.
Confidence levels are also low in terms of dentists’ ability to offer their patients the right balance of treatment versus prevention, with 85% of respondents expressing fears that the balance won’t be right.
Confidence that practising dentistry within the NHS will offer an appropriate level of remuneration in the future has been lost by 94% of respondents.
It also seems that there is little confidence that dental teams will be able to work effectively within the NHS framework as time progresses, with 89% feeling less confident on this matter than they did in the previous 12 months.
Perception of patient satisfaction is also at a worrying low, with over three-quarters (77%) of respondents lacking confidence that patients will be happy with the outcome of attending an NHS dental practice in the future, when compared to 12 months ago.
You can see the full results or further information on the NHS Confidence Monitor by visiting www.nhsdentistryinsights.co.uk.
