[News Terms] UK's General Election Biggest Issue: National Health Service Dental Care

Most Successful Healthcare Systems in the US and Europe
Thatcher Took No Action, Johnson Tried to Cut Budget but Increased It
Bankruptcy Due to Medical Bills... Flood of Promises for Dental Care

The UK's free healthcare system, the 'National Health Service' (NHS), is facing difficulties such as staff shortages, and dental healthcare reform, considered the most serious issue, has emerged as one of the biggest topics in the UK general election held on the 4th (local time).

The 'National Health Service (NHS)' is a term encompassing the UK's public healthcare system. It provides free medical care to everyone, including legally residing foreigners, and has been funded by taxes since 1948.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is making a final campaign stop in Hampshire on the 3rd (local time), one day before the early general election.
[Photo by Hampshire AP/Yonhap News]

The four NHS organizations in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland employ 1.7 million staff and care for one million patients every 24 hours, making it the world's largest non-military organization. It is regarded as the most successful healthcare system among 11 major countries in the US, Europe, and Oceania, and the British pride in the NHS is so strong that a performance about the NHS was featured at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

Even Margaret Thatcher, who criticized the UK's low-efficiency, high-wage economy and reduced excessive welfare policies, never touched the NHS. The Boris Johnson cabinet attempted to cut the NHS budget, but after Prime Minister Johnson himself was hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment, the budget was instead increased.

Operating under the principle that healthcare should be comprehensive, universal, and free, the NHS focuses on treatment rather than the ability to pay, but dental and ophthalmic care are excluded from coverage.

In particular, unlike children whose dental costs are covered by public health insurance, adults must pay out of pocket for dental care, sometimes leading to bankruptcy due to dental bills. Because of this, many Britons avoid dental treatment and even travel abroad for dental tourism to countries like Hungary in Eastern Europe. Globally, there is a stereotype that Britons have poor teeth.

The US daily newspaper The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 2nd (local time) that recently in the UK, as people unable to book dental appointments resort to 'self-treatment' at home or travel abroad for treatment, calls for healthcare reform are growing louder.

Keir Starmer, leader of the UK Labour Party, is seen with a bright expression during a campaign rally in Redditch on the 3rd, a day before the early general election (local time).
[Photo by Reuters/Yeonhap News]

It is estimated that there are currently about 11,000 dental clinics across the UK. These clinics usually operate both NHS-supported treatments and private treatments without government subsidies, but many dentists say that government funding is insufficient to cover costs, so they are increasing expensive private treatments instead of NHS treatments.

According to a 2022 BBC poll, 90% of dental clinics do not accept new adult NHS patients. Ultimately, those who cannot afford expensive private care struggle to book NHS treatments, often failing and ending up pulling their own teeth.

As the situation worsens, demands for proper dental care have flooded local constituency candidates in this general election, and dental healthcare reform has become a major topic in party leader TV debates.

In response, both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party have pledged to improve NHS dental services. The Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, announced promises to improve contract terms between the NHS and dentists, provide over 700,000 new urgent treatments, and hire new dentists in needed areas. Prime Minister Sunak's Conservative Party also pledged to improve NHS contract terms for dentists, offer additional allowances to dentists working in rural areas, and require new dentists to work within the NHS for a certain period as part of reform plans.