Patient Experience Of NHS Dentistry Must Be Included In Performance Measures, Urges The BDA, UK

Main Category: Dentistry
Article Date: 07 Mar 2008 - 11:00 PDT

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The NHS dental contract should focus on patient experience - quality of treatment and oral health outcomes - and not on the one crude target that simply measures a dentist's output. That's the message the British Dental Association will be delivering at the Patients Association launch of a dental report in London.

The Chair of the BDA's General Dental Practice Committee, which represents family and high street dentists, Lester Ellman will say:

"The new system focuses on targets, not patients. The new UDA [units of dental activity] system is flawed and has failed to encourage a more preventive approach to care.

"The BDA wants a range of performance indicators which looks at patient experience - quality and oral health outcomes."

In a review of developments since the contract was implemented in April 2006, Dr Ellman will tell delegates that it has been a tough time for both dentists and patients and warned that the uncertainty would continue. He will explain that the new contract drives dentists to focus on output, and forces them to look at everything in terms of UDAs which makes the provision of overall care more difficult. He will also say that the target-driven contract has had a demoralising effect on the profession.

"The BDA wants to create an environment where working for the NHS is a choice that dentists can make, confident that they can provide care to patients based on quality and prevention. The UDA system does not support this approach.

"Care should be delivered because of a supportive system not despite a poor one."

Dr Ellman will be speaking at the Patients Association launch of "The new dental contract: Full of holes and causing pain" 1 Great George Street, London.

1. Units of dental activity (UDAs) is the only performance measure used to assess dentists output under the 2006 contract.

2. The British Dental Association (BDA) is the professional association for dentists in the UK. It represents over 20,000 dentists working in general practice, in community and hospital settings, in academia and research, and in the armed forces.

British Dental Association