Can a Business be a Trade Union?

Or . . . can a Trade Union be a business?

The British Dental Association [BDA] runs successful businesses, and Eddie Crouch wonders if this conflicts with its work as a trade union.

Should the two parts separate?

The new NHS?

The new NHS?

On the day the Government take the first steps to promote the new Health and Social Care Bill, Eddie Crouch tells us a recent personal experience with the NHS hospital system, and draws conclusions from this.

Like all dentists, he wonders if dentistry has already been forgotten in this plan?

Where will the pilots land us?

Where will the pilots land us?

In last month's GDPUK colunmn, Eddie Crouch asked if the Department of Health have learnt the lessons of history?

The announcement of piloting has been accompanied by admissions of failure of the UDA system.

Eddie writes about his close involvement in discussions, and discloses the extreme vigilance demanded by GDPC Chair John Milne having agreed to engagement with DH.

His piece contains a strong warning that without proper funding, pilots not be successful.

Will we learn the lessons of recent history?

Will the lessons of recent dental political history be learnt?

Or, as Eddie puts it, will the Department of Health learn those lessons? Eddie has been to many meetings recently, as plans develop for the future without Primary Care Trusts and with a new contract for dentistry shortly to be on the table.

Eddie sets out what he is learning about this process and draws a conclusion.

CQC –What lessons can we learn?

Not since the transitional days of the new contract have I known such anger amongst the colleagues that I meet in various capacities.

There is not a meeting I attend where voices do not get raised when the topic of the CQC reaches its point on the agenda. The sheer frustration with conflicting advice and the worry that come the 1^st April , your practice may not be able to operate, causes anxiety in the best informed of individuals.