AIBU to think the Tories have quietly privatised NHS dentistry?

[Kendodd]

Vast swathes of the country it's impossible to get an NHS dentist. I'm on some discussion boards for Ukraine, advice on there seems to be return to Ukraine if you need dental treatment as you won't find it in the UK.

And for some reason people trust the Tories with the rest of the NHS.

I must admit I had no idea Blair did that. I thought privatisation of the NHS was a Tory desire, opposed by labour I never was great with politics.

As others have said, it's not just dentistry. It's audiology issues too, in my experience.

I've had to pay for my children since the age of 5 as my dentist doesn't do NHS.

My solution would be to set up NHS dental clinics staffed by salaried dentists employed by the NHS. Although where all these dentists would come from given the low numbers we've trained and Brexit making it clear EU citizens can fuck off (as my lovely dentist did) I don't know.

I had an NHS kill one of my teeth so I wouldn’t let them touch them again abd for be it’s private all the way and I’m happy to pay. I would like there to continue to be NGS dentists for my children though so YANBU.

Most NHS dentist take private patients as Well and as they are the ones that pay it is obvious who they will take more of! It is just the way the world works and whilst it is a huge shame I think I will start taking out dental insurance like most of the rest of the world do. This won't change regardless of who is in power.

Back in the 80s/90s more and more dental treatments were being removed from NHS cover. I can remember my lovely dentist who had looked after us since I was a child, then my first children gradually stopped taking new NHS patients (unless from existing families) because he couldn't provide decent care on the NHS and patients were starting to ask for repairable teeth to be extracted.

Its become much worse again in the last ten years, finding an NHS dentist in my area is impossible. Some practices used covid to drop patients from their lists and refused to take them back. Funnily enough the patients who had paid for additional services privately were able to resume services.

The premise of your OP wasn't that they've failed to improve it though, was it.

AIBU to think the Tories have quietly privatised NHS dentistry?

You've changed your angle now that it's been pointed out that Labour fucked this up.

Just look at the voting, too. Everyone piling in to blame the Tories for one of the few things they aren't solely responsible for.

As someone else has pointed out, it's typical social media tripe with a lack of critical thinking.

Boris and co' have screwed so many things that there's an endless supply of issues they can be slated for without trying to twist a non-Tory one to fit.

Your one single experience does not negate the premise of the OP.

Agree. Been hard to get one around here for about 20 years

I read the OP as a continued degradation of dentistry services within the NHS, not that the Tories started it.

when was dentistry first privatised anyway?

The Tories introduced PFI.

New Labour accelerated it because they wanted to get money into the nhs without getting criticised for “extra borrowing”.

PFI is and continues to be a fucking con. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown weren’t called thatcher’s sons for nothing!

It’s not just the Tories
Dentistry in Scotland is the same- it’s all gone private, since it’s a devolved area I guess we should be blaming SNP too 🤷‍♀️.

Covid was a great excuse for them to do a lot of things 🙄

The premise of your OP wasn't that they've failed to improve it though, was it.

No it wasn't, you're correct. The premise of my op was that things a actively got worse under the Tories.

You've changed your angle now that it's been pointed out that Labour fucked this up.

It's also been pointed out that it was the Major government that started the decline.

I agree with this. I think the rapid descent into no NHS dentistry appts being available started under labour.

We have had an nhs dentist for years and go regularly etc.
Last month they suddenly announced by letter that they were now private.
The same week my dd who is a student had an awful infection in her cheek caused by a wisdom tooth rubbing.
It cost me nearly 400 quid and today my son rang me in tears as he had an access and doesn't get paid for weeks so helped him too.
I worry about the children too as my dentist said even they aren't nhs anymore.

Our dentist went private in about 2005 and if the parents stayed with the dentist and went private then their children could carry on with NHS treatment.

No surprise here.

According to a staff conversation I overheard in a dentist waiting room, lots of dentists are going to be quitting NHS dentistry because of the way furlough payments were calculated during COVID. Apparently furlough payments were paid as a percentage of private work only, so those who do mainly NHS work were eligible for virtually nothing.

I don't fully understand the argument, just reporting what I heard.

Ken your suggestions for improvement are good - maybe direct your efforts towards getting Labour or the Lib Dems to include and priotitize your suggestions as part of their policies?

There are quite a few voters just waiting for some reasons to vote for either of the above Political Parties; you do realize that just 'bashing' doesn't earn votes?

In 1992 the Major government started the rot (pun intended) by reducing the fees paid for NHS treatment. In 1999, then-prime minister Tony Blair pledged everybody would have easy access to an NHS dentist within two years, but it wasn't until 2006 that Labour's reforms were introduced. They were a total disaster, and led to 1,000 dentists stopping NHS treatment almost immediately. Labour also messed up badly by transferring funding from central government to Primary Care Trusts, and in 2009 stopped the ring-fencing of dental funds thus allowing PCTs to transfer dental funding to other services if they wanted.

In 1990 6% of dentists income came from private work, by 2008 this had grown to 58%. The prime failing of Tory governments since 2010 is to do almost nothing to correct the previous disastrous situation, although in January 2022 the government said they had already started on reforms. They can not come soon enough.

Yep it’s BJ’s fault, always.

Dentists are like GP’s - no one wants to work for the nhs therefore there is a massive staff shortage. Dentists are retiring/ turning private/going abroad for better work/life balance.
I don’t blame them to be honest!
and I say that as someone, who has had to pay for private dentistry for myself, DH and our 3 children since we moved to this area in 2003 as no nhs dentists had space.

It was Tony Blair’s government that destroyed so much of the NHS. GP practices, dentistry, PFI, destruction of joined-up care for complex medical issues - all ruined by the Blair government. And, like everything NHS, trying to change meets with brick walls. The NHS need to take a leaf out of aviations book, and in particular take a long hard look at Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syad. Aviation safety relentless improved by a transparent, no blame approach to investigations. Compared the NHS culture of cover up, deny, mislead and protection of their own. Inexcusable in the 21st century.

The poor will have black holes teeth again, like Victorian times

Already happening with the parents and pupils at the school I teach at. This is a place of high economic deprivation.

I pay for private dentistry through a scheme and have done for years, but it often doesn’t cover the costs of many treatments apart from the basics. Even spreading the cost monthly it is not a great solution.