There was another story about the lack of NHS dentistry on the BBC today; it’s here.
This is not a surprise, and it's just recycling of what we already know, and it's happening time and time again.
It seems to be like a stock record now and has been since not long after 2006.
This is not specific to dentistry; it's a symptom of the wider decay and legacy debt that exists within the United Kingdom, but it's not likely to get better anytime soon (and by soon I mean ever).
Last Friday I had the misfortune to have to attend the NHS walk-in centre in Nottingham as a patient. When I say misfortune, it was because I dropped a 25-kilogram weight onto my foot. The experience of the NHS walk-in centre was actually way beyond my expectations.
The reason for that is that my expectation was extremely low, and therefore exceeding a low expectation is not so difficult.
The staff were fantastic to person.
Reception, triage nurse, radiologist, nurse, healthcare assistant- all of the people that I met were fantastic.
In the end, I waited 3 hours to go through the system. I actually didn't think that was too bad because I'm expecting that I'm going to be there for ten.
The experience itself, when you look at it from a higher level, is not that fantastic.
The surroundings are not that great, the toilet's not that great, but the staff were brilliant, and the experience through the process was much better than I was led to believe.
Remember, though, that that is funded by the NHS, and everyone is salaried in that position. I would be fascinated to know exactly what it costs, what the ‘operating surgery per day cost ’ is.
What people don't understand about dentistry is that it's subcontracted, and while much of the rest of the NHS is in dire trouble (and it definitely is), what's happening in dentistry is that businesses are having their income cut at drastic rates without any recompense and any ability to make greater income unless they ship to the private service.
What's also happened in NHS services like the walk-in centre is that wages have gone up by 6.5% and the National Insurance contribution has been met by the government.
That doesn't happen in private institutions. 6.5% wage increases plus 2% on National Insurance are catastrophic.
Isn't it time now to stop bi**hing about the fact that NHS dentistry is fu**ed and to actually start doing something about it?
The middle class cannot get it for free anymore; we're way past that.
Interestingly, on the television in the waiting room for the walk-in centre is a long advert for private dentistry and a long advert for a private GP surgery, go figure.
Blog Post Number - 4642
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