NHS dental payment reform: equality impact assessment

Recommendations and Conclusion

The EQIA process has allowed the Scottish Government to consider how payment reform would impact on the people of Scotland.

Whilst people with protected characteristics are more likely to be impacted to a greater extent by the increased costs of NHS dental treatment, this needs to be set against the significant loss of NHS provision which would exclude many people in the protected characteristic groups from being able to access NHS dental services. Therefore, the overall view is that payment reform in preserving NHS services has a disproportionate benefit for these patients.

Patients with protected characteristics who have difficulty paying for NHS dental services may already be exempt from NHS charges and will continue to receive free NHS dental care and treatment. For those not exempt from NHS dental charges but on a low income, financial support is available via the NHS Low Income Scheme.

We have concluded that payment reform will generally have a positive impact on people who fall under a protected characteristic given the increased clinical need for these groups to access dental services and the improved accessibility to NHS dental services associated with payment reform. We are satisfied that given the evidence gathered there are no overall negative impacts on people with protected characteristics.