Salary for NHS dentists smashes through the £100,000 barrier

The average salary for an NHS dentist has topped £100,000 for the first time.

Their pay soared by around 13 per cent last year  -  nearly three times the rate of inflation  -  following the new contract introduced by the Government to improve efficiency.

The revelation, expected to be confirmed by official figures this week, comes despite the news that the number of patients seeing an NHS dentist fell by a million last year.

In some areas it is impossible to get on the books of an NHS practice.

The pay leap follows a massive shake-up in the way dentists are paid.

Before the introduction of the 2006 contract, their income was based on the number of individual procedures they carried out.

The new system gives them a fixed income for an agreed amount of work.

The change was designed to discourage dentists from carrying out unnecessary treatment, while increasing preventative work.

However, patients' groups say the reforms were botched.

Dr Anthony Halperin, a dentist and chairman of the Patients Association, said the new contract encouraged dentists to 'maximise profits' rather than putting patients first.

He said: 'There is evidence that a lot of the most complex work is not being carried out. It is easier and more profitable to take out a tooth and replace it with a denture than carry out complex root canal surgery.

'Dentists are working the system for themselves, not for the patients.'

The figures were collected from income tax returns by the NHS Information Centre.

They show that the income of average NHS dentists  -  who spend around a third of the week on private patients  -  rose from £86,000 to just above £100,000 for a 36-hour week.

NHS dentists are smiling all the way to the bank with a 13 per cent pay increase

In the highest paid category they are earning around £135,000.

The figures are before tax  -  but after expenses have been paid. A typical dentist spends £70,000 to £80,000 on buildings, administration staff and other costs.

In July MPs on the health select committee said the number of complicated treatments had fallen by more than a half since the contract was brought in. Yet the number of root canal treatments rose in Scotland, where the system was not changed.

The British Dental Association said last night the salary figures were artificially inflated because they covered the change from the old to the new contracts.

Some dentists had been unable to meet their tough targets for patients and would have to hand back part of their earnings.

A spokesman said: 'Dentists are highly- skilled professionals who have spent a minimum of five years at dental school and a year's postgraduate training. The salary reflects that.'

The Department of Health denied the new contracts had inflated pay.

Health Tourists 'are costing us millions'

The NHS is owed tens of millions of pounds by foreign 'health tourists' who give hospitals false identities and addresses before having expensive treatment, it  has emerged.

Campaigners warn taxpayers could be missing out on life-saving drugs as a result.

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London last year had to abandon efforts to recover £2.4million owed by overseas visitors.

King's College Hospital, also in London, wrote off £1.6million in similar unpaid charges.

Patients from outside the EU must prove they have been living here for at least six months to qualify for free health care.

But a London hospital manager said: 'People just turn up at A&E who could have been diagnosed in their own country with cancer or heart disease and can't get care or the quality of care at home.'

Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association, said: 'It means other patients lose out.'

Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley added: 'Health care in this country is meant to be a national, not an international service.'