DTUK1010

PUBLISHED IN LONDON N HS dentistry hit the headlines early in the official election cam- paign trail as NHS dental serv- ices are highlighted in a trip to Reading West. Conservative Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley (pic- tured) visited the constituency, tipped to be one of the more hotly contested seats in May’s General Election, at the local Castle Hill Dental Clinic. The aim of the visit, in conjunction with Tory local candidate Alok Sharma, was to hear firsthand the views of patients and practi- tioners about NHS dental provi- sion in the area. Speaking at Castle Hill, Mr Lansley said: “It has been made clear that access to dentistry is one of the things people in Reading West are particularly concerned about. We are very aware that if we get the right kind of relationship with a dentist where we focus on good dental health and pre- vention... we can end up with dentists being able to look after more people.” Labour candidate Naz Sarkar commented that if he won the seat in May he would scrutinise dentistry in the area to make sure no-one was missing out, regardless of their financial situation. “The Labour Party must not get complacent over the issue of NHS Dentistry. I don’t think dental services are that bad here. Most people are catered for well, but there are pockets that we need to look at.” The Liberal Democrat Party candidate Daisy Benson said she was more concerned about tooth decay among children in the Reading West area rather than a lack of ca- pacity. She commented: “When I have put the question to the authorities they say there are enough dentists and places for NHS patients. “But they need to work much more closely with the council to advertise properly and help peo- ple get to see these dentists.” Adrian Windisch, candidate for the Green Party, said: “The idea of the NHS was that all den- tal health would be free, but that is not the case. “We would bring back free dentists for all by saving money on scrapping things like nuclear weapons.” DT April 19-25, 2010 VOL. 4 NO. 10 Dental practice investment The chief dental officer has highlighted in his CDO up- date that under the new sys- tem, “PCTs can make invest- ments in NHS dental services from their funding allocations in return for an agreement related to improving the qual- ity and possibly the quantity of NHS services.” Dr Cock- croft added: ‘A convenient way to do this is through an amortised loan, and we have published a contract tem- plate agreement on the NHS Primary Care Commissi- oning (PCC) website to make it easier for both parties to do this, where they have agreed that it is desirable and there are funds available.” See: www.pcc.nhs.uk/ condition- al-grant-agreements DCP national survey Dental care professionals are being asked to take part in a national survey being carried out by the Dental Programme Board of NHS Medical Edu- cation England. One of the primary aims of the review is to assess the contribution that dental care professionals (DCPs) can make to the effi- cient and effective delivery of primary care services. Infor- mation submitted in response to this survey will create a profile of how the broad skill mix of dentists and dental care professionals is current- ly used, and will provide an evidence base for the working group’s report, to be published later in 2010. Participation in the survey is voluntary, and the closing date is 30 April. For more information and to complete the survey, please go to: www.surveymonkey. com/s/skillmix Election site Campaigning charity The King’s Fund has launched a webmicrositehighlightingthe political parties and their poli- cies concerning healthcare to coincide with the recently announcedelection.TheKing’s Fund is a charity that seeks to understand how the health system in England can be im- proved. Using that insight, the charity helps to shape policy, transform services and bring about behaviour change. To help demonstrate the different parties’ approach to health- care, the charity has developed the ‘Your election check up’ interactive game. The game is a means of demonstrating the different approaches to health and social care from the three main political par- ties and acts as a gateway to the wider election coverage on the micro site. To play, go to www.kingsfund.org.uk/ general_election_2010/ www.dental-tribune.co.uk Eliminating risk Kathy Porter shares ideas for Infection Control Best Practice Implementing IC systems Dave Gibson looks at creating a completely decontaminated environment in the surgery Survey shocks BADN’s Pam Swain reveals the latests salary survey figures for dental nurses News in Brief Infection Control Tribune DCPsInfection Control TribuneNews Lucky The Lion Schools initiative in Oxfordshire gets lion’s share of interest page 2 pages 14-15 pages 19-20 page 25 Dentistry hits headlines early in election campaign NHS dental services become an early key election topic as the political parties draw battle lines in Reading West constituency