Monitor, the system that has been designed to encourage competition between different practices within the NHS has been met with opposition from the British Dental Association(BDA).
As the independent regulator of the NHS foundation trusts, Monitor ensures trusts meet healthcare targets, cooperate with other NHS org
anisations and that they operate “effectively, efficiently and economically”.
The final point will encourage competition between service providers, and they say that this is not necessary. They claim there is very little evidence that this will improve patient healthcare and that there is no justification for any concern about patients’ ability to access services”.
However, this may not reflect what those in the profession really think.
Colette Bridgman, a consultant in public dental health in Manchester was quick to point out that this is happening across the board, not just to those working in the dental profession.
“I think dentistry would be better thinking, how best can we implement this, how can we support dentists in understanding what it’s going to do, than railing against it.”
She is not alone in her analysis of the situation. As Professor Jimmy Steele, from Newcastle University, said: “Provided that organisations are competing on the right measures then actually it can be quite a good thing. It’s also quite dangerous if they’re competing on the wrong measures, so getting the right measures is important.”
In a letter to the Department of Health in March the BDA outlined their reasons for requesting exemption from the system, saying that there is already a “well-established role of competition in dental services, with tendering for services on the bases of cost and quality commonplace and patients free to choose their provider.”
Bridgman believes that good practices have nothing to fear from Monitor, the system that will ensure financial regulation, but that it should be handled properly so it does not feel like an extra burden.
Ultimately though, this is about what is best for the patient, and as Professor Steele found during his 2009 independent review of the dental care services in the UK: “We have to stop seeing value for money as more dentistry done for less money. What we want is better health at a lower price, which may well mean less dentistry.”
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