Labour warns Scotland facing two-tier dentistry system

Scotland is facing the prospect of a two-tier model for dental care, Labour’s Anas Sarwar has warned as he claimed the Scottish Government’s “broken” funding model was forcing dentists to take on increasing levels of private work.

Mr Sarwar, who himself worked as a dentist before going into politics, insisted Scotland was “now looking down the barrel at a two-tier dentistry system in our country”.

He said that better-off Scots going private to access dental care would not help to tackle the “already unacceptable levels” of health inequality faced by those in poorer areas.

The Scottish Labour leader made the comments ahead of addressing the Conference of Scottish Local Dental Committees in Stirling on Friday.

It comes after figures at the end of last year showed a drop in the number of people being seen by NHS dentists.

Data from Public Health Scotland revealed that in December 2023 there were 245,501 patients who were seen or had contact with an NHS dentist, down from 396,084 the previous month.

The number of dental treatments carried out on the NHS fell from 733,596 to 542,897 in the same period.

Meanwhile, Labour said calls about oral and dental health problems to NHS24 had almost trebled, going from 25,509 a year to 67,189 a year.

Mr Sarwar said: “Having served in our NHS as a dentist, I know first-hand the importance, both medically and socially, of access to first-class dental care – but under the SNP, NHS dental care is under threat.

“Despite all this SNP government’s promises, we are now looking down the barrel at a two-tier dentistry system in our country where those with the ability to pay opt to go private, and those without the means going without.

“This is a ticking timebomb under the health of millions of Scots and will reinforce Scotland’s already unacceptable levels of dental and wider health inequality.”

He said the Scottish Government’s “broken funding model” for NHS treatment had meant “more and more dentists are feeling forced to take on more and more private dental care to survive”.

Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: “We implemented significant NHS dental payment reform on November 1 following extensive consultation with the dental sector and practising NHS dentists.

“Our priority in bringing forward payment reform is to ensure that fee levels are reflective of the increased costs of modern dentistry, thereby providing longer term sustainability and encouraging the dental sector to increase its existing NHS provision.

“In the first month, almost 400,000 patients were seen by an NHS primary care dentist – an indication that reforms are working.

“We are also actively working with our counterparts across the UK on a range of workforce initiatives designed to further improve service sustainability through increases to the supply and diversity of the workforce.”