The Labour Party has published its General Election manifesto promising, on health, to repair ‘our health services’, with their urgent priority being to end NHS ‘privatisation’. Our mission is to create the conditions to prevent illness and enable people to live longer, healthier lives, they say. They have also promised to provide free annual NHS dental check-ups.
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A new round of strikes have been announced by the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU), starting on 25 November. One dispute centres on changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and a separate dispute relating to universities’ failure to make improvements on pay, equality, casualisation and workloads.
Read more: University lecturers to launch fresh strike action
National dental organisations are supporting World Antibiotic Awareness Week by reminding the dental profession about the importance of using antibiotics judiciously. A free dental AMS toolkit endorsed by them provides patient information highlighting that antibiotics do not cure toothache, advice for dentists on the use of analgesics, and an antimicrobial prescribing self-audit tool.
Read more: Dental organisations support World Antibiotic Awareness Week
The British Dental Association (BDA) has called on all parties to stop treating oral health as the missing piece in health policy, as it launches its 2019 manifesto. BDA Chair Mick Armstrong said: “Our message to politicians of all parties is that oral health can no longer be the missing piece in health planning and budgets.”
Read more: The Missing Piece: BDA sets out 2019 manifesto for oral health
Jeremy Corbyn has pledged that dental check-ups will be free in England, if Labour is elected. Band 1 courses of treatment, currently costing £22.70 will be charge-free. The policy would be the "first step towards making all dentistry services free of charge", Corbyn declared. They claimed that the move would encourage more people to go to the dentist.
Ministers have notified Parliament about transitional healthcare arrangements across the EU if the Government is unable to secure a deal. They say they are working hard to secure a deal that covers healthcare arrangements, but ‘it is important that people understand what will happen if the UK leaves without a deal and what support the Government has put in place for that scenario’.
Read more: Government reports on healthcare arrangements in event of No Deal Brexit