Dental patients are not always being informed of their entitlement to receive NHS-funded treatment, according to the Office of Fair Trading.
An OFT review of the £5.73bn UK dentistry market found that it was not always working in the best interests of patients. Approximately 500,000 patients may be receiving inaccurate information about NHS treatment each year, the competition watchdog found.
It urged NHS commissioning bodies, the General Dental Council and the Care Quality Commission to be proactive in enforcing existing rules that require dentists and dental practice to provide accurate and timely information about treatment prices and options.
John Fingleton, OFT chief executive, said: ‘All too often patients lack access to the information they need, for example when choosing a dentist or when getting dental treatment. We also unearthed evidence that some patients may be receiving deliberately inaccurate information about their entitlement to NHS dental treatment, and we expect to see robust action taken against such potential misconduct by dentists.’
The OFT is also calling on the Department of Health to reform the dental contract to enable new practices to enter the market and to allow successful practices to expand. Fingleton said reform in this area was needed ‘without delay’.
But the British Dental Association said the OFT had failed to understand dentistry properly or take a practical view of the complexities facing dentists.
Susie Sanderson, chair of the BDA’s executive board, said: ‘This report treats dentistry purely as a market, and dental care as a commodity. In doing so, it has taken a simplistic view of dental care that fails to take into account the huge sums of money dentists invest in surgeries and ignores the unique role in screening and diagnosis that dentists are trained to perform.
‘Dentistry is not a commodity; it’s the delivery of healthcare to real patients. Failing to understand that serves neither dentists nor patients well.’
She added that the development of a new dentistry contract, already underway in England, was crucial. ‘In piloting and designing those new arrangements government must ensure that it provides clarity about what the NHS offers and properly supports practitioners in providing the kind of modern, preventive care that our patients deserve,’ said Sanderson.
Commenting on the report, health minister Lord Howe said: ‘Denying patients care on the basis of misinformation is a very serious matter – any dentist that does this risks breaching their contract and we would expect the local NHS to take action.’
He added: ‘We are currently piloting elements needed to design the new dental contract. These pilots will help establish a better basis for a system where patients can see the right dental professional when they need to.’
