Foreign dentists to be allowed to work in UK without qualification checks

[dutchman]

Ministers plan to scrap exam required to allow dentists from countries outside of Europe to work here, in a bid to solve dentistry crisis



Foreign dentists are to be allowed to work in the UK without taking an exam to check their qualifications, under Government plans to solve the dental crisis.

Ministers plan to scrap the overseas entrance exam currently required to allow dentists from countries outside of Europe to come and work in Britain.

The plans would mean dentists trained abroad would be able to start work in the NHS without a formal check on the quality of their education, amid fears it will lead to substandard care.

Around four in five NHS dental surgeries are not accepting new patients, which has caused a surge in teeth-related A&E admissions, including among children with tooth decay.

The dentists’ union accused the Government of trying to “a fill a leaky bucket” without addressing the real issues keeping the profession away from NHS work.

The proposals would see foreign dentists start working quicker, with the regulator the General Dental Council (GDC) given new legal powers to provisionally register dentists using its own judgment on their qualifications.

Officials claim this will “ensure patient safety and quality of care are maintained”, while those on the new, provisional register would have to be supervised to work.

Dame Andrea Leadsom, the health minister, said the plan “would abolish red tape that currently prevents fully qualified overseas dentists from working in this country, while ensuring the highest standards of care and patient safety”.

Patient groups are concerned the plans won’t fix the crisis, particularly if there is no obligation for foreign dentists to do NHS work.

Dennis Reed, director of over-60s campaign group Silver Voices, said: “It is not the number of dentists that’s the issue, it’s the number directly concentrating on NHS work.

“The worst possible outcome of this would be for large numbers of overseas dentists to come over and concentrate on private work.”

The British Dental Association (BDA) said the “recovery plan” was unworthy of the title, and that there was “no evidence” overseas dentists were more willing to do NHS work than those already in the UK.

A record number of dentists are registered to practise with the GDC, the union said, but the number doing NHS work has fallen to 2016 levels because of “tick boxes and targets”.

It said the Department of Health had provided no modelling to back up its claims of “millions” of new appointments, and that there was no plan to increase capacity.

Eddie Crouch, BDA chair, said: “A broken contract is forcing dentists out of the NHS with every day it remains in force.

“Overseas dentists are no more likely to stick with a failed system than their UK colleagues. Ministers need to stop trying to fill a leaky bucket, and actually fix it.”

[rebbonk]

What could possibly go wrong?

idiots!