DTUK2010

PUBLISHED IN LONDON T he Coalition Government has set out its reforms for the NHS in a White Paper entitled Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS. In a radical shakeup of the way the NHS is currently run, the White Paper proposes that most of the mainstream health- care services currently looked after by Primary Care Trusts will become the responsibility of GP Consortia, who will assess and commission services. Dentistry will not fall under this remit however, as there will be an independent NHS Com- missioning Board who will be responsible for services such as pharmacy and ophthalmology as well as dentistry. The will see a return to centralised control for dental services, as PCTs and SHAs will fall by the wayside in the proposed reforms. Consistency Commenting on the proposals, Health Minister, Lord Howe said: “The White Paper proposes that a new NHS Commissioning Board should take over from PCTs the responsibility for commissioning dentistry in order to improve the quality of care for patients and consistency of commissioning. “The transition to the new system will require careful man- agement at every stage. This will be a challenge, but I have every confidence in the NHS’s ability to manage this successfully. “We recently published a consultation seeking views on commissioning for patients and the implementation of the NHS Commissioning Board and now we want to hear the views of healthcare professionals on how the new system should work. The Way Forward “The White Paper also reiter- ates the Coalition Government’s commitment to introduce a new dentistry contract following con- sultation and trials. This will be designed in the context of the new commissioning arrange- ments. I am having ongoing meetings with key representa- tives of the profession to discuss the way forward.” Dental associations gave the White Paper a cautious wel- come. General Dental Practice Committee (GDPC) chair Dr John Milne said: “The White Paper does not address den- tal services in detail nor ex- actly what the implications of the new framework will be, but it is promising to see that primary care dentistry will be commissioned by a new NHS Board. Safeguarding dental services, whether provided by family practices or the sala- ried and specialist services, is paramount. It is reassuring that the government has reiter- ated its pledge to pilot changes to the dental contract and we are urging the Minister to continue developing the pilots testing out the recommenda- tions in the Steele report.” “We look forward to more de- tailed proposals on how the gov- ernment intends to implement these changes.” Impact Peter Bateman, chair of the British Dental Association’s Sala- ried Dentists Committee, com- mented on the potential impact of the White Paper for salaried dental services. He said: “It is essential that special care dentistry and other salaried dental services are in- cluded in same dental commis- sioning arrangements as for general practice otherwise there is a risk that the budget for com- munity services could be lost to dentistry.” DT The NHS will see widespread reform if the White Paper becomes reality August 2-8, 2010 VOL. 4 NO. 20 Hopital loses dental services NHS Barnet has axed dental services from Edgware Com- munity Hospital in North Lon- dondueto‘financialpressures’. More than 60 patients with ongoing treatment have had to find alternative treatment after the closure of the Dental Access Centre due to ‘finan- cial pressures’ on NHS Barnet. It claims the Dental Access Centrehasbeenclosedbecause there is spare capacity at the 71 other NHS surgeries in Bar- net. A statement from the Trust said: ‘In this time of economic downturn, financial pressures on the local NHS is increas- ing making it absolutely vital in ensuring that we use all our available resources fairly and appropriately. These pa- tients, along with all previous patients who accessed dental services at this site, have been notified and arrangements are being made for their treat- ment to continue at an alter- native dental clinic nearby. In and around the Edgware area alone, there are 15 dental prac- tices that provide NHS dental services and are available for the public to use.’ GDPs not ready GDPs are not ready for reg- istration with the Care Qual- ity Commission, according to recent research conducted by Software of Excellence, a practice management soft- ware company. With only six months to go, 22 per cent of those surveyed admitted to being unprepared for registra- tion, whilst a further 19 per cent did not know what CQC meant. The procedure for reg- istration needs to allow time for processing, meaning that some practices will be given a date for registration that could be as early as October this year. Greg Clay, sales and marketing director at Software of Excellence said it ‘is a cause for concern’. Sonicare For Kids The Sonicare For Kids tooth- brush has been accredited by the British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF). An inde- pendent panel of dental aca- demics drawn together by the BDHF assessed the basis for claims made by Philips about the Sonicare For Kids and ap- proved them. These claims inc- lude‘SonicareForKidsremoves significantly more plaque than a manual toothbrush’, ‘Soni- care For Kids is safe and gentle on your childs’ gums and ‘chil- dren brush significantly long- er with Sonicare For Kids than with a manual toothbrush’ The BDHF accreditation logo will soon be appearing on Son- icare For Kids packaging and practice and patient literature. www.dental-tribune.co.uk CAD/CAM possibilities Case study looking at the use of CAD/CAM in treatment Back to the Egg Kenneth Serota discusses den- tine and endodontics Crisis Christmas One woman’s story of helping the homless News in Brief Clinical FeatureImplant TribuneNews Winner VT wins 2010 prize for best case presentation at local VT scheme page 4 pages 19-22 pages 24-26 page 29 White Paper reshapes NHS PCTs and SHAs scrapped as GPs take over healthcare; dentistry reverts to centralised control by NHS Commissioning Board

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