Working patterns of dental care professionals vary by role, working hours, and the type of care...
ADG commends NHS dental workforce resilience in latest GDC data
The Association of Dental Groups (ADG) has highlighted the resilience of the NHS workforce as part of its response to the release of the General Dental Council’s (GDC) latest data on working patterns.
The data reveal that over 40% of dentists continue to give 75% or more of their time to the NHS.
Commenting on the figures, Neil Carmichael (pictured above), executive chair of the ADG said: “These GDC dentist workforce figures show that dentists working in the NHS are remarkably resilient.
“We are glad to see the active participation of three quarters of dentists in the GDC’s survey, because a clear picture of the workforce status is important.”
However, he renewed the ADG’s calls for expansion of the Overseas Registration Examination (ORE) and Licence in Dental Surgery (LDS), which will enable internationally-trained dentists to help fill vacancies in the UK.
The association’s focus remains on putting to work a sustainable workforce model, deploying home-grown talent, international dentists, and smart use of the dental team skill mix to put patients first
He said: “Confidence can only be justified if the ORE and LDS expansions happen at pace.
“I cannot emphasise enough the urgency of deploying our international dentist workforce.
“We know that many patients are still living in ‘dental deserts’ where access to a dentist is extremely difficult and we have 2,700 dentist vacancies in England alone.
“The new data continues to reinforce that the existing dentist workforce is already largely engaged, with only 0.9% of dentists actively looking for work in the sector, so we simply don’t have a UK workforce ready to take on roles until the ORE and LDS expansions come into effect.
“The association’s focus remains on putting to work a sustainable workforce model, deploying home-grown talent, international dentists, and smart use of the dental team skill mix to put patients first.
“The ADG stands ready to support policymakers and stakeholders to make this happen.”
