Orthodontic opt-out obliges overseas onrush…

I'm not starting a theme for my blog here but it seems that this post is connected with the previous one...a first for me and an apt way to celebrate my 100th blog post!

The government will find a way: four months ago the new Dentist contracts came into play and at the same time we find that the UK is importing Dentists: it appears that almost half of the dentists who joined the NHS in England last year qualified abroad, official figures have shown and of these Poland alone contributed 17% of the 2,200 dentists who joined the health service in the year to March 2006...

The British Dental Association (BDA) said 60% of those who had signed were unhappy with the terms of the contract and could still opt out, although the government said it was half that number; 10% of dentists did opt out: dentists' frustrations over contract continue: dentists across England have yet to resolve disagreements over their new NHS contracts four months after they came into force. Figures published by the Department of Health today reveal that 69% of contracts signed ‘in dispute’ by dentists when the new contract was introduced have yet to be resolved. Lester Ellman, Chair of the BDA’s General Dental Practice Committee, said:

“This is clearly an extremely worrying situation for many dentists and their patients, and reflects the uncertainty, unfairness and unhappiness surrounding the Government’s reforms of NHS dentistry. Dentists are frustrated about the target-driven nature of the new contract which fails to allow a more preventive approach to care. And from the evidence so far, the new contract seems to have done little to achieve the Government’s primary aim of making it easier to find an NHS dentist.”

The dentists themselves will not benefit from the changes, from the BBC report: Essex dentist Piers Lambert when explaining the new charges to his patients in the form of a leaflet wrote: "Please remember that these increased charges will not increase the revenue to the practice."

"We will be collecting the indirect "tooth tax" on behalf of the government."

Unsurprisingly, Mr Lambert is one of thousands of dentists who signed the contract "in dispute", meaning they only agreed to put pen to paper to ensure services keep running while continuing to negotiate on the terms.

The BBC also reported that Shadow Health Secretary, at the time, Andrew Lansley said:

"This new contract is a bad deal for dentists and a bad deal for patients."

And Steve Webb, Liberal Democrat health spokesman, added:

"The long-term future of NHS dentistry looks bleak unless the government urgently review the new contract."

Now I'm not complaining so much about the imported dentists themselves, I'm sure they are perfectly capable at their jobs; but it does seem to be a way the government can wrangle the existing set-up to the detriment of those already employed and whose education and careers have led them to their current professional standing -and it's not the first time either: it happened with Vets as well, hundreds were imported, primarily from Spain, and the influx of foreign nurses continues to increase...where and when will it end? When the lawyers (and their political benefactors) find themselves displaced by cheaper foreign imports, that's when!