Margaret McCartney: General practice is going the way of NHS dentistry

General practice is quietly going the way of UK dentistry. This will widen health inequalities, decrease doctors’ job satisfaction, and do nothing to fix problems in general practice.

In 2006 the NHS dental contract was changed to fulfil “activity targets,” with banded rates, for “units of dental activity.” This has been deeply unpopular. Dentists who exceed the limit are not paid extra, and very different treatments—such as extraction and root canal filling—attract the same pay. Newspapers have reported patients being offered expensive private work for treatments available on the NHS.1 High street dentists offer cosmetic treatments, …