The Chancellor’s budget has been analysed by the the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers, with an emphasis on how it will affect GDPs. Most, but not all will benefit from an increase in the personal tax-free allowance and raising the level at which higher rate applies. On the downside it has been confirmed that the business rates relief will not apply to private practices.
No comments
The Oral Health Foundation launched this year’s Mouth Cancer Action Month at the House of Commons. More than 75 people from across 40 organisations were in attendance and heard from a range of speakers reemphasising the need for greater nationwide support for mouth cancer awareness.
Dentistry is part of a ‘jigsaw of care’ which is essential to identify and support children at risk of dental neglect and possibly wider neglect, says Claire Stevens, spokesperson for the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry. Her comment was made on BBC Breakfast where she was interviewed about a paper published in the BDJ.
Read more: The jigsaw of care essential to tackle dental neglect
Research reported in the British Journal of General Practice found that GPs see 380,000 patients a year with dental problems, with the result that pressure is “piled on overstretched GPs who are simply unequipped to help”. In response the BDA has urged ministers to to end the “hostile environment” to having access to a dentist in the UK.
Read more: Too many patients going to their GP with dental problems says new research
The CQC has published plans for inflation-busting fee rises for dentists which would see GDPs face a 13% increase in fees – over £100 for the average provider – from April 2019, while GPs will see their fees unchanged. The BDA says this represents a wholly disproportionate burden, particularly on smaller practices and is calling on GDPs in England to respond to the consultation.
Group Captain Mark Richardson, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK, has been appointed Queen’s Honorary Dental Surgeon (QHDS). On his new appointments, Group Captain Richardson commented: “I feel very honoured and humbled to have been appointed QHDS, and to have been chosen to be the Chief Dental Officer of the RAF. This represents the pinnacle of my military career.”