Meeting with the Minister of Health
10 January 2019
The Chief Executive recently had the opportunity to meet with Minister of Health, Matt Hancock, at the House of Commons. We had the opportunity to discuss the coverage of dentistry and oral health in the recently published NHS Long Term Plan, the issue of hospital admissions and GA administrations to under 5s for extractions, the new dental contract and the Parliamentary vote on Brexit and implications for the dental industry and service providers. In a short speech to medical device suppliers, the Minister praised the vital contribution of the devices sector and the innovation of manufacturers and suppliers to the health of the nation.
Our discussions with the Minister followed the publication of the long-awaited ‘NHS Long Term Plan’. The 116-page document sets out:
- How the NHS will move to a new style service model in which patients get more care options and properly joined-up care.
- New funded preventative actions.
- Priorities for care quality and outcomes improvement for the next decade.
- How current workforce pressures will be tackled.
- Wide-ranging programmes to upgrade technology and digitally enable care across the NHS.
- How the 3.4% 5-year NHS funding settlement will help to put the NHS back on a sustainable financial path.
References to dentistry and oral health are limited, but do refer to some key areas of concern, namely improving oral health care for children with disabilities, oral health care in care homes, and the prevention of the requirement for hospital extractions in under 5s.
