Does the NHS Dental Workforce Plan in England align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals?

Abstract

Continuing with our cover series on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we reach SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. On this issue's cover, we attempt to illustrate the ongoing wariness surrounding the NHS dental contract, as more and more practices are withdrawing from the NHS altogether and time is running out to close on a solution. Deborah Evans, Ian Mills and Sally Hanks discuss SDG 8 via the debate surrounding whether the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan can deliver the necessary improvements in dentistry required to address current oral health inequality and provide decent working conditions for the dental workforce.