Dental Tribune UK Edition, October 4-10, 2010, No.24 Vol.4

Spending cuts see 1,700 job losses A ccording to reports, 1,700 members of NHS staff will be axed as part of government spending cuts. The Department of Health has not officially announced the job losses; however, they did regard any changes as “temporary”. A spokesman for the DH said; “We are reshaping and improving public health strate- gies. There will be plenty of op- portunities and jobs to be done in both national and locally-led public health service. “The Government is com- mitted to increasing the health budget in each year of this Par- liament. We will spend that money wisely, including the prioritisation public health and preventative work. That’s why we’ve already committed to in- troduce a Public Health Service with ring-fenced budget and lo- cal health improvement led by Directors of Public Health in lo- cal authorities. “National Support Team pro- grammes and departmentally- funded regional public health posts run until the end of this financial year with future fund- ing subject to the outcome of the Spending Review.” However, what hasn’t been explained is why members of staff affected by the cuts were notified by post in June about the job cuts. According to re- ports, the letters claimed that changes to NHS priorities in light of the increasing govern- ment deficit may cause them to be at risk of redundancy. Health Minister, Andrew Lansley, is planning significant changes to the NHS in a bid to make it a more effective and efficient service. As a result of the changes, the staff involved in the programmes will prob- ably lose their jobs; this news was confirmed by a document published on the department’s intranet system, which revealed that funding for programme budgets would be stopped. It is believed that the mem- bers of staff affected were em- ployed to work on a number of health projects, including reducing obesity and encour- aging sensible drinking. The professionals, including spe- cialist doctors, dentists, nurses, dieticians, nutritionists and psy- chologists were hired to work alongside civil servants to im- plement important new pro- grammes. The team were employed to work at the Department of Health offices in London and other parts of the country; they were working to reduce the amount of money spent by the NHS by improving gener- al health and reducing the bur- den caused by obesity, poor diet, alcoholism and smoking. The human resources de- partment of the DoH claims that around two thousand members of staff will be affected by the cuts; only 300 of these are pro- tected because they are civil servants employed on specific programmes. The Department of Health said the budget for public health programmes is being reduced to make more money available for front-line services and di- rect patient care; however, crit- ics have slammed the move, claiming that investment should be focused on cutting costs in the future by tackling seri- ous health problems includ- ing obesity, regular drinking and smoking. DT Dentistry firms unite for charity A lthough Christmas may still be only just on the horizon, a number of the dental companies have come to- gether to create a unique set of Christmas cards for the dental charity, Bridge2Aid. The tailor-made cards are designed by plan provider Prac- tice Plan Ltd. After being created through a brainstorming ses- sion in 2009 by the Bridge2Aid Corporate Friends, the Christ- mas cards most definitely have a unique look, and with all the proceeds going to helping the people of Tanzania, the Christ- mas cards are a refreshing change – forget traditional snow scenes, these cards have a worth- while purpose! The Bridge2Aid Corporate Friends, which includes A-dec (UK), Dentsply, Henry Schein Minerva, Practice Plan and Schulke, discussed how, as a group, they could work collec- tively to raise funds and aware- ness for the worthwhile charity. They met to discuss a number of initiatives, including how to raise funds over the festive pe- riod, and as a result the unique card idea was formed. Styles, packaging and marketing were all discussed and now Practice Plan can excitedly reveal the unique African Christmas cards. The cards cost £3.49 for a pack of 10, and all proceeds go directly to Bridge2Aid, which in turn goes straight towards help- ing the people of Tanzania. Visit http://www.bridge2aid. org/cm/news/529 for further in- formation. DT AHA reveals smoke- less tobacco danger T he American Heart As- sociation (AHA) has re- vealed some shocking re- sults with regards to smokeless tobacco products. Their statement notes that smokeless tobacco products are not safe alternatives to smoking because they are associated with heart attacks, strokes and certain cancers. They have also suggested that due to the marketing of these products, smokeless tobacco pro- ducts may initiate further tobacco use and perpetuate smoking. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Con- sumer Healthcare, a leader in helping smokers quit and the marketer of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products, supports the findings of the American Heart Association (AHA). Tobacco use, including smokeless tobacco, is the largest cause of preventable death and disease in the world. The proven way to reduce these health conse- quences is to stop using tobacco completely. Even though NRT products have helped millions of people around the world quit smoking and, as a result, reduced their ex- posure to the risks of cancer and other smoking-related diseases, there are still concerns with re- gards to further health risks. While the FDA is the final au- thority on the labelling of NRT products sold in the US, GSK Consumer Healthcare is commit- ted to continuing to work with medical and clinical experts and the FDA to ensure that consum- ers have the best possible chance to quit smoking. With quitting smoking being the single most important step smokers can take to improve their health, the development of innovative new products and support systems to improve the quit experience, without further health risks, is vital. DT October 4-10, 20104 News United Kingdom Edition