Half of dentists set to ditch NHS patients as they don’t get paid enough

HALF of dentists plan to ditch NHS patients as they do not get paid enough — forcing thousands to go private.

More than 3,000 have already quit NHS work since the start of Covid.

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A poll by the British Dental Association found 75 per cent will reduce non-private patients this year and 45 per cent plan to go fully private within 12 months.

Shawn Charlwood, spokesman for the BDA, said: “Overstretched and underfunded, thousands of dentists have already left the NHS but more have begun severing their ties.

“This lingering decline will leave millions of patients with no options.

“Without urgent reform and adequate funding there is little hope we can halt this exodus.”

Health minister Maria Caulfield said negotiations with the BDA are ongoing to “ensure working in the NHS remains attractive”.

She said: “We are working closely with the NHS to reform the dental system.

“We are currently negotiating improvements to the contract with the British Dental Association to ensure that working in the NHS remains attractive to dentists.”