More than one third of dentists will stop practising within the next year if NHS emergency support is withdrawn, according to a survey.
The British Dental Association of Scotland said that plans to revert to a pre-Covid model of care, marked by low margins and high volume, risk an exodus of dentists from the NHS.
About 80 per cent of dentists will reduce their NHS commitment should emergency support be withdrawn, according to the poll, with 38 per cent saying they were likely to change career or seek early retirement in the next 12 months. One in ten estimated it was likely their practice would cease operations. In October, Humza Yousaf, the health secretary, told NHS dental teams that all emergency support would be withdrawn by April 1.
NHS practices have been receiving funds under a Covid support package, amid limited capacity across the service. The survey found that 89 per cent of dentists estimate that the removal of emergency funding will have a high impact on the short and medium-term sustainability of their practices.
According to Public Health Scotland figures, the government paid £135.5 million to general NHS dental practices in 2020-21, 54.6 per cent less than in 2019-20.
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Half the dentists surveyed by BDA Scotland reported that they were operating at less than 50 per cent of pre-Covid capacity. While the Scottish government has offered a support package to boost capacity, the survey found that many practices were unwilling to commit to the NHS model because funds were tied to a time commitment.
David McColl, chairman of the BDA Scotland’s dental practice committee, said: “Free NHS dentistry for all is a worthy ambition. Rather than exploring ways to achieve that the Scottish government has blindly headed down a road that could destroy this service.”