Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

Published by Dental Tribune UK Ltd © 2011, Dental Tribune UK Ltd. All rights reserved. Dental Tribune UK Ltd makes every effort to report clinical information and manufacturer’s product news accurately, but cannot assume responsibility for the validity of product claims, or for typographical errors. The publishers also do not assume responsibility for product names or claims, or statements made by advertisers. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and may not reflect those of Dental Tribune International. Group Editor Lisa Townshend Tel: 020 7400 8979 Lisa@dentaltrib- uneuk.com Editorial Assistant Laura Hatton Laura..hatton@dentalt- ribuneuk.com Advertising Director Joe Aspis Tel: 020 7400 8969 Joe@dentaltribuneuk. com Sales Executive Joe Ackah Tel: 020 7400 8964 Joe.ackah@dentalt- ribuneuk.com Design & Production Ellen Sawle Ellen@dentaltrib- uneuk.com Dental Tribune UK Ltd 4th Floor, Treasure House, 19–21 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8BA T he ‘Public Health Respon- sibility Deal’ published this week sends mixed messag- es on the Government’s commit- ment to improving public health and is unlikely to force the pace of change needed to tackle alcohol abuse in particular. According to an oral health charity, the British Dental Health Foundation is con- cerned that the voluntary nature of the pledges to improve public health are soft options and likely to be overlooked in favour of com- mercial considerations. StudiesinScotlandhaveshown that the alcohol industry com- pletely flaunts the ban on encour- aging young people to drink and has sophisticated and costly cam- paigns to snare the young and encourage binge drinking. The industry simply has too much at stakeandcannotbetrustedonthese issues with the nation’s health. The BDHF points to the Gov- ernment’s own statistics on al- cohol abuse to justify a different approach to improving public health. In its recent White Paper – ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our strategy for public health in England’ – the Government esti- mated that alcohol abuse costs the NHS £2.7 billion each year. DT Not good news for oral health T his week sees the D- Day for reg- istration with the Care Quality Com- mission and the new dawn of regu- lation. The process has been a turbulent one, which to be honest shows no sign of stopping. This is shown in the news front page, where by the CQC’s own ad- mission to providers stated that it was not going to get through all of the applications submit- ted by this week’s deadline. Even as we go to press, it is still unclear as to the fee structure practices will have to pay to be registered. Practi- tioners are feeling increasingly frustrated with the lack of in- formation and are calling for the delay or abandonment of CQC registration for dentistry. I am not against the prin- ciples of CQC, I am a firm believer in monitoring of stand- ards and provision of a high quality service. However those who are being regulated need to have the highest confidence in those applying the rules. This currently is not the case. I can only see more discon- tent from both providers and the CQC if the situation con- tinues the way it is going. I’m calling on both par- ties to make this work in a way that is of benefit to patients, providers and the CQC. Am I naive? I really hope not. DT Do you have an opinion or some- thing to say on any Dental Tribune UK article? Or would you like to write your own opinion for our guest comment page? If so don’t hesitate to write to: The Editor, Dental Tribune UK Ltd, 4th Floor, Treasure House, 19-21 Hatton Garden, London, EC1 8BA Or email: lisa@dentaltribuneuk.com Editorial comment March 28-April 3, 20112 News United Kingdom Edition