NHS cash crisis

It could be hard to believe that the UK is amidst one of the toughest series of public sector spending cuts in post-War history given that the Government announced that it is injecting almost £30m into NHS dentistry. At a time when there are almost daily reports of hospitals being bailed out and the discovery of previously unknown black holes in primary care trust finances, it is a brave Government that starts spending on National Health Service dentistry. It raises the question of how the Government managed to find the investment money and leaves some wondering whether the NHS actually under spent this year.

There has been a flurry of activity in PCT dental contracts teams recently. Part of the activity is just deciding what name they give themselves, are they contract managers or commissioners? The rest is about how to spend this cash injection before March 31, 2012, the end of the financial year.