NHS dentist: New cash incentive 'won't fix shortages'

Dr Jeremy Cooper says money is not the only problem for NHS dentistry

A cash incentive for dentists to set up in English areas with poor NHS access will not be enough, a dentist with more than 40 years service has said.

The £20,000 "golden hello" payment will be available to up to 240 dentists, about 1% of the workforce.

But Salford-based Dr Jeremy Cooper said the money "won't even paper over the cracks".

The government said it had listened to dentists by increasing standard payments for NHS work.

The scheme is part of a wider plan by the government to improve access to NHS dentistry, which also includes top-up payments for dentists to take on NHS patients.

Dr Cooper said that the cost of setting up a practice was so large that the £20,000 payment "for three years I don't think is going to crack it".

"Every government has put more money into the NHS but costs have risen exponentially," he said.

Setting up a dental practice is very expensive says Dr Cooper

Dr Cooper, who runs his own dental practice close to Salford Royal Hospital, said governments of all hues had struggled to cope with the "ridiculous" costs of new technology and equipment.

He said there was no quick fix to attracting or retaining dentists.

"Money isn't the only thing, it takes five years to get a dentist out of dental school and then it's a few years training - it's the best part of 10 years before they become a valuable member of the NHS," he added.

Dr Cooper said: "We live in a society that is much more demanding and litigious.

"Things are not always going to go right and you just need one negative experience and dentists are out of here."

A BBC investigation in 2022 found nine in 10 NHS dental practices across the UK were not accepting new adult patients for treatment on the NHS.

Stephen Davies, 67, from Lancashire, is one of many people who has struggled to access NHS dentistry.

He says he has had to resort to emergency dental work to have teeth extractions.

"Where I live there are people walking around with no teeth. I notice it amongst my friends. There's a whole generation of people with no teeth because they can't get a dentist."

The government is aiming for 1.5 million more treatments to be given over the next 12 months.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told the BBC that the government had listened to the profession by increasing the standard payments for NHS work.