An incremental approach to dental contracts? Really?

A recent British Dental Journal article argued that the current general dental services contract could be modified incrementally to find a way of delivering NHS dental care within a set budget. Reaching any agreed position on the financing of dental care within the NHS requires that both parties (funders and service providers) feel content with the nuts and bolts of the agreement.This article argues that the UK Government has deliberately constructed the current units of dental activity contract to persuade dentists to cease providing NHS dental care in a way that allows the Government to blame dentists for the failure of the service. The idea that the Government might want to negotiate a better deal for dentists is, in the opinion of the author, unforgivably naive.