Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

A bequest from former BDA president, John WalfordM- cLean OBE, is to be used to fund work on an archive docu- menting the history of dentistry sincethestartoftheNationalHealth Service. Being developed in con- junctionwith King’s College Lon- don Dental Institute’s (KCLDI’s) Unit for the History of Dentistry, the recently launched John McLean Archive: A Living History of Den- tistry, will fill a void in the den- tal profession’s recorded history. Members of the McLean family presented the BDA Trust Fund with a cheque in support of dental re- search, which will be used to fund thearchive, at a reception held at BDA headquarters in London. The reception was attended by trustees oftheFund,representativesofKCL- DI and the BDA, and members of the project’s team, including Pro- fessor Stanley Gelbier and Dr Steve SimmonsfromKCLDI’sUnitforthe History of Dentistry, and BDA mu- seumstaffmembersRachelBairsto, Melanie Parker and Sophie Riches. Head of BDA Museum Serv- ices, Rachel Bairsto said: “In time, this archive will provide an essen- tial record of the significant evolu- tion of the dental profession from 1948 onwards. This will be invalu- able for generations of profession- als to come. We are honoured to be given the opportunity to realise this project through the generosity of one of the most highly-regarded leaders in the profession, John McLean, whose legacy will long be remembered.” The project will comprise a series of witness seminars and in- dividual oral history interviews, encompassing the full breadth of dentistry in the UK.DT Dental archive bequeathed by estate W esleyan has launched a new service for its dental clients to help ensure that they have the cor- rect level of home insurance cover. Wesleyan’s Private Clients Insurance service now includes a free ‘walk-through’ home valuation for dentists after new statistics show that up to 70 per cent* of professionals have inad- equate cover levels. According to the Birming- ham-based mutual, a leading provider of tailored financial ad- vice and products to the dental profession, the majority of den- tists fail to appreciate the value of their home contents and sometimes forget to re-assess cover levels to include valuable new purchases. Wesleyan believes that its in- surance service is the first in the UK to offer personal valuations for free to dentists regardless of the level of sums insured.** Mark Lee, Business Develop- ment Manager for Wesleyan’s Private Clients Insurance, said: “Our dental customers are time poor and don’t always have the time to review their insurance cover. As a result they are often underinsured and leave them- selves exposed if something should happen to their home. This service takes away the hassle of calculating contents cover by leaving it to an inde- pendent valuation professional who will visit at a time that suits the client. “Private Clients Insurance is designed specifically with our customers in mind. For example, they can delegate authority for dealing with their policy to an- other person so they don’t have to handle any of the adminis- tration involved. Private Clients Insurance customers also get a dedicated personal client man- ager who looks after their needs.” The new valuation service has been launched following the successful first year for Wesley- an’s Private Clients Insurance, which has seen an eight-fold increase in demand since re- launching in 2010. DT * Statistics provided by Wesley- an valuations partner Lyon & Turnbull ** terms and conditions apply Wesleyan warns dentists of under insurance risk J ust days after it was re- vealed that dental charges will be frozen in Wales and prescription charges will be scrapped in Scotland Ministers have confirmed that prescription fees and dental charges will in- crease in England. The announcement has un- surprisingly been greeted with anger prompting people to ques- tion the equality of a different fee scale for different parts of the UK. Ministers have confirmed that dental charges will increase by the following: band 1 treatments will go up to £17, band 2 treat- ments will increase to £47 and band 3 treatments will be raised to £204. Along with this rise in den- tal fees prescription charges will also increase by 20p to £7.40 per item from the 1st April. Dental charges in England are the highest in the UK and now England remains the only coun- try in the UK where prescriptions aren’t free. The British Medical Asso- ciation has criticised the price increase, claiming that the in- crease amounts to a tax on the sick. Sue Sharpe, from the Phar- maceutical Services Negotiat- ing Committee, also condemned the news, saying that people from low income families may struggle to get the medication they need. Katherine Murphy, Chief Executive Patients Associa- tion said: “At a time when many patients are struggling to make ends meet, another increase on charges they must pay is not acceptable. “It is essential all patients feel they can access healthcare when they need it and not be deterred by costs.” A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said that the government was investing an additional 10.7 billion pounds in the NHS and claimed that abolishing prescription charg- es in England would leave a shortfall in NHS funding of 450 million pounds per year. DT Dental charges rise M a t - thew Walton, the dentist who repeat- edly broke wind and belched in front of pa- tients and staff has been struck off. With a string of allegations to his name, Wal- ton was reported to have made derogatory comments about certain patients’ unemploy- ment, disabilities, age and eth- nic origin. Other charges included Walton being routinely being rude, abrupt and sarcastic; not allowing dental nurses to communicate with patients; not allowing his dental nurse sufficient time to clean the clinical area in surgery be- tween patients and routinely not warning his dental nurse that he was about to take x-rays of patients when she was in the room. Walton, worked at the prac- tice inWhitchurch, Shropshire, between August 2006 and De- cember 2007. The committee in London told Walton it had taken into ac- count his “lack of insight and lack of remediation”. DT Gone with the wind The archive will provide an essential record of the evolution of the dental profession P rof Elizabeth Kay, Dean of the Peninsula Dental School, has been award- ed Fellowship Ad Eundem of the Faculty of General Den- tal Practice (UK) (FGDP(UK)) at The Royal College of Sur- geons of England. She re- ceived her award at the Annual Faculty of GDPs (UK) Diplo- mates Ceremony in London. The award of Fellowship is the highest accolade a mem- ber of the FGDP(UK) can achieve. It is a mark of achieve- ment for those who have made a contribution to pa- tient care or the profession of primary dental care, sig- nificantly over and above what might be reasonably ex- pected of a member of the FGDP(UK). Russ Ladwa, Dean of the FGDP(UK), commented: “It is obvious to all to see that Pro- fessor Kay has an exceptional enthusiasm for her profession, and a willingness to help oth- ers along their chosen path. Her tireless work and sup- port for dental practitioners to provide an improved qual- ity of care for their patients is well known and I thank Prof Kay for that.” Prof Kay added: “I am of course delighted to have been awarded such a prestigious accolade. While it is me who has been made a Fellow, it is an achievement that reflects the hard work and dedica- tion of my colleagues and our students at the Peninsula Den- tal School, as much as it does me personally.” DT Fellowship for Dental Dean Prof Elizabeth Kay March 28-April 3, 20114 News United Kingdom Edition