General practitioners are doing dentists' work

doi:10.1136/bmj.39577.613993.BE

BMJ 2008;336:1088 (17 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39577.613993.BE

Letters

NHS dentistry

General practitioners are doing dentists’ work

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

For some time patients have been finding it ever harder to registerwith an NHS dentist and especially to see a dentist outsideof core working hours. I have noted an increasing stream ofpatients needing to see a doctor for what is essentially a dentalproblem.

I therefore audited the work of our practice, which has 10 000registered patients. I analysed all dental related consultationsduring the two years 1996-8 and 2006-8, discovering a 1600%rise in their number over this 10 year period.

There is no provision in the NHS contract for general practitionersto be remunerated for dental work, despite health minister BenBradshaw’s advising patients who could not get dentaltreatment to visit their general practitioner.

My audit results may be a symptom of declining dental availability.They also show, once again, how general practitioners are leftto pick up work that should be performed . . . [Full text of this article]

Alastair Bint, general practitioner

¹ St Luke’s Surgery, Guildford GU1 3JH

al@bint69.fsnet.co.uk

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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

You are not alone!: Gary Stack
bmj.com, 16 May 2008 [Full text]
Treating dental problems: Michael G Bamber, et al.
bmj.com, 17 May 2008 [Full text]
NHS problems?: Doug Varian
bmj.com, 19 May 2008 [Full text]
No access problem: Wyndham M Collins
bmj.com, 20 May 2008 [Full text]