Dental Tribune UK Edition, September 13-19, 2010, Vol. 4 No. 21

PUBLISHED IN LONDON T hegovernmenthastoldthe chairman of the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB), that it will play no role in determining the remuneration of independent contractor gen- eral dental practitioners (GDPs) and general medical practitioners (GMPs) in England for the finan- cial years 2011-12 and 2012-13. In a letter, Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health, said: I have decided that, based on the financial and economic position and the continued need for reduc- tion in public sector expenditure that it will not be necessary for the DDRB to make any recom- mendations on the need for any earnings or contract uplifts for in- dependent contractor GMPs and GDPs in England. The government will make the decisions on any gross uplift, based on the efficiency assumption that we wish to apply and the evidence on non-staff expenses. He added: I have therefore concluded that there is no requirement to ask DDRB to play a role in the remuneration of independent contractor GMPs and GDPs for financial years 2011/12 or 2012/13. We believe we have everything necessary from your past recom- mendations on the formula to take forward discussions with relevant professional bodies. We remain determined to secure con- tinued efficiencies from the invest- ments in independent contractor GMPs and GDPs and therefore will reach our decisions based on the progress we can make in those negotiations. The letter was sent to the chairman of the Review Body, Ron Amy. Susie Sanderson, chair of the BDA Executive Board said: ‘‘Dentists are aware of the fi- nancial pressures behind the already-announced pay freeze for NHS workers earning more than £21,000 a year that have led the government to instruct DDRB not to make recommendations about earnings for GDPs for the next two financial years. ‘‘GDPs are facing soaring ex- penses and the impact of those on contract values must be properly considered. The BDA will be sup- plying evidence on this to govern- ment that will underline the very real challenges dental practices face. It is important to note that the government’s intention to apply efficiency assumptions to its cal- culationsofcontractvaluesamou- nts to a pay cut and isn’t helpful.’’ Derek Watson, chief executive of the Dental Practitioners Asso- ciation, also expressed his con- cern: ‘‘It was announced in the budget that the government has imposed a two-year pay freeze on public sector employees earning over £21,000 a year which would have included most dentists. This would have left the Review Body open to make an uplift recom- mendation based on expenses. The government has now closed this door by saying that it will also estimate expenses.’’ Thegovernmentwillnowneed to negotiate directly with profes- sional dental associations such as the BDA on how contract values should be raised to reflect the in- crease in expenses. In Scotland, after intervention by the BDA, the government has reconsidered the way it is imple- menting this year’s DDRB pay award. The BDA’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee (SDPC) ar- gued that the DDRB had taken the expenses element of the pay award into account and that the pay increase should apply to the whole item of service rather than just the expense element. The Scottish government have agreed that the uplift for inde- pendent GDPs should be 0.9 per cent applied to the whole item of service. DT September 13-19, 2010 VOL. 4 NO. 21 Dental anaesthetics seized Drug dealers across Britain are using dental anaesthetic to dilute cocaine supplies. The Serious Organised Crime Agency has warned that deal- ers are using large volumes of dental anaesthetics to bulk up the cocaine they sell on the streets. Officers are clamping down on the industry and have seized large amounts of the dental anaesthetics lidocaine and benzocaine. In May alone, officers seized two tonnes of benzocaine, one fifth of the volume used by dentists in the UK each year. Tesco dental practice Tesco is hoping to become the first supermarket in Scot- land to open a dental surgery. The company has lodged a planning application with Glasgow City Council to open a three-chair dental prac- tice at its store in Silverburn shopping centre in Pollok. Figures show south-west Glasgow has one of the worst dental health records in Scot- land. About three in four of all children under five in the area have a history of tooth decay and/or dental extractions by the time they start school. Sainbury’s be- came the first chain in the UK to open an in-store pri- vate dental practice in 2008 in Sale, Greater Manches- ter. Treatment prices at the Sainsbury’s practice have been kept similar to NHS ones so the practice has proved very popular. Scottish registration figures The figures for the number of people registered with an NHS dentist which were recently published by NHS Scotland are not accurate, according to the British Dental Association (BDA). Robert Donald, of the BDA’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee, said: ‘‘As the Scottish government has acknowledged, recent esti- mates of the number of indi- viduals registered with NHS dentists in Scotland have included deceased and duplicated patients. Although work to remove duplicate patient records has begun, some patient records are not matched to Community Health Index numbers. Until they are, it will be impossible to have complete confidence that the registration figures are robust.’’ Lifelong regis- tration was also introduced earlier this year and Mr Don- ald said: ‘‘Our understanding is that almost a quarter of a million individuals included in today’s statistics haven’t visited their dentist during the last three years.’’ www.dental-tribune.co.uk A team approach Richard Musgrave highlights the effort needed in infection control Ortho interest Andrew McCance details the benfits to GDPs of orthodontics Beating Bruxism Barry Oulton discusses Bruxism Awareness Week News in Brief Education FeatureInfection Control TribuneNews Not all white Online retailers withdraw illegal tooth whitening products page 2 pages 15-16 page 24 page 26 Government to decide dentists’ pay and contract values The coalition government will be making all decisions on NHS dental pay and contract values for the next two financial years, after it told the dental pay body it is no longer needed.