Pensioners set to be losers in shake-up of dental charges, Citizens Advice warns
30th September 2005
Pensioners could be the big losers under government plans to simplify dental charges, national charity Citizens Advice warned today.
Older people who need new NHS dentures when their existing set is damaged, lost or simply wears out could find the cost more than doubles.
Citizens Advice, which with Which? And Help the Aged was on the Working Group set up to advise the Department of Health on its review of dental charges, says that while the new scheme has much to recommend it, the proposed levels of charges could result in real hardship.
At the moment people have to pay between £61.85 and £97.50 to replace partial dentures, but under the new proposals the charge would leap to £183.
Citizens Advice is urging the government to reconsider the level of charges in the new scheme, saying such increases are unacceptable and threaten to undermine what is otherwise a welcome reform.
The planned shake-up in dental charges follows calls from Citizens Advice and others for a fundamental review of all NHS charges. In a survey carried out in 2001, the charity found that 44% of people registered with an NHS dentist found the charges difficult to afford. This rose to 75% of those charged £200 or more.
The aim of the reforms is to make dental charges fairer, simpler and clearer by moving from the current system - with over 400 items of dental treatment charged at different rates up to a maximum of £384 - to just three bands with a fixed flat rate charge for each band. These bands would cover check ups (£15), simple treatments like fillings (£41), and more complex treatments including providing crowns and dentures (£183).
But while the new charging scheme would bring down the cost of a trip to the dentist for some, it will mean most courses of treatment for those with the greatest needs - including pensioners on fixed incomes - will cost more.
The concerns raised by Citizens Advice are set out in its response to a Department of Health consultation on the proposed reforms, which ends today.
Citizens Advice social policy officer Liz Phelps said:
"Evidence from our bureau network regularly shows how patients are confused by the complexity of the current charging regime, with the result that many find themselves paying for private treatment when they thought they were being treated under the NHS.
"We therefore welcome the progress that has been made towards creating a clearer, simpler charging scheme that should make a visit to the dentist much more affordable for many people.
"But older people - the main group who need to buy dentures - face real hardship as a result of the large one-off costs they would be expected to pay if these plans go ahead unchanged. This sits uneasily with the Government's commitment to tackle pensioner poverty.
"We are also calling for a Government commitment that in future any increases in dental charges will not exceed general inflation"
Frances Blunden, principal policy adviser, Which? said,
"The proposed new system of charges brings much needed clarity for consumers about what they will have to pay for their NHS dental care. They will also make NHS dentistry much more affordable by more than halving the maximum charge consumers may have to pay. However, we share Citizens Advice's concerns that the current proposed Band 3 charge will still be set too high and will put undue financial pressure on many vulnerable members of society, especially older people.
"We urge the Government to look again at the charge for Band 3 treatments as a matter of urgency and at the very minimum ensure that people with significant dental health needs are not penalised by these changes."
Last updated: February 23, 2007