Dentists could be given a £15,000 ‘Golden Hello’ to open in the county and see NHS patients.
The lack of NHS dentists is a national issue, and South Holland is no different.
A meeting of the county council’s Health Scrutiny Committee received an update on the situation this week.
The commissioning of all NHS dental services was fully delegated to the Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) on April 1 this year.
Dental activity statistics show that the NHS delivery from April 2021 to May 2023 is 65 per cent in Lincolnshire, below the national average of 76 per cent.
Members of the committee will also be told that less than a quarter, 24.3 per cent, of the total population access NHS dental care in Lincolnshire.
South Holland is classed as one of the ‘most challenging’ areas to secure NHS dentistry, along with Boston and North Kesteven.
“It was estimated that across the country there has now been the equivalent of a year’s worth of appointments lost in primary care dentistry since the start of the pandemic,” the report says.
The current financial situation may also mean private patients are looking to return to NHS practices as a way to save money.
“This may place additional pressure on NHS services at a time when capacity is still constrained,” the report says.
“There have been anecdotal reports of some practices reluctance across Lincolnshire in offering NHS appointments (particularly routine) and, instead offering the option to be seen earlier as a private patient.”
The challenges faced by dental care providers is also noted.
A ‘Golden Hello’ scheme is one of a number of measures being looked at to ease the problem.
“To assist local NHS dental providers in the recruitment and longer-term retention of dentists in Lincolnshire where the recruitment of additional dentists is most challenging,” says the report.
The money will be available to each eligible new full-time NHS dentist recruited within the target area.
A number of practices opted out of the NHS altogether when problems with the current national system, introduced in 2006, became apparent.
While just 24.3 per cent of adults in Lincolnshire seeing an NHS dentist, the number is above the national average, it equates to 186,429 people from a total population of 766,333.
A search on the NHS website shows no NHS dentist currently taking on new patients within at least a 20-mile radius of Spalding. A few can treat children, but the vast majority are not offering places of any sort.
