A woman convicted of illegally whitening people’s teeth has told BBC Scotland she did not know what she was doing was against the law. Brenda McFadyen was fined £1,000 after she pleaded guilty to the illegal practice of dentistry, by offering illegal tooth whitening treatment from her home address. She used the name “Pearly Whites Teeth Whitening”.
No commentsRead more: Tooth whitener ‘did not know’ it was against the law
The Derry Journal reports that the lack of an updated Northern Ireland oral health strategy in a region with the ‘worst dental health’ in the whole of the UK has been branded ‘entirely unacceptable’ by the SDLP health spokesman Mark Durkan MLA. He was responding to scathing criticisms by the BDA over what it branded a lack of direction in oral health policy.
Mick Armstrong has been re-elected to BDA’s Principal Executive Committee (PEC) as the representative for the Yorkshire and Humber region. Also re-elected were Northern region - Paul Blaylock, South West - Nigel Jones, UK-wide - Paul Woodhouse. Elected unopposed for Northern Ireland was Peter Crooks. The new members will take office for three years in January 2019.
The Department for Health and Social Care has announced a consultation into indemnity cover for healthcare professionals who are not covered by existing or proposed state-backed schemes. They say that there are concerns that the current arrangements could prevent patients getting appropriate compensation and put healthcare professionals at risk of being personally liable for the costs of claims.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Matt Hancock Secretary of State for Health and Social Care promised that before Christmas, the Government would bring forward a long-term (10 year) plan for the NHS and outline how the additional funding promised by the Chancellor would be spent. Answering questions, he said he would listen to suggestions to get (the dental contract) right.
Community Health Councils in Wales have reported that benefits claimants are being put off going to see a dentist due to confusion over what free treatment is available and have said the system needs to change. Some patients have faced £100 fines after wrongly filling in claim forms. The Welsh Government said it was considering simplifying the process.