The General Dental Council (GDC) has informed UK dental schools of an EU requirement that dentists’ studies should total five years and that time spent during a first degree may not count towards the dental training programme. A decision is expected by the end of the year. In the meantime the GDC says those qualifying this summer will be put on the Register.

The handover of BDTA Presidents took place last month at its annual Midwinter Meeting. Edward Attenborough handed over to the incoming President for 2012-13, Simon Tucker. Simon is a partner and director at Medenta with responsibility for finance, marketing ‘and all matters IT’.

Two grants, worth a total of almost £160,000, have been awarded by the Shirley Glasstone Hughes Trust Fund for research projects that will examine the role of dentists' anxieties in clinical decision making and the impact of the choice of linings under amalgam fillings have on outcomes for patients. The winning projects were selected by an international panel of experts, following a comprehensive peer review process of all the applications received.

A Liverpool dental surgery has been warned to improve after inspectors found medication stored in a dirty fridge. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) told the practice in Aintree that it was not meeting “essential standards”. Inspectors visited the surgery after they had major concerns at the provider’s other dental practice in Congleton, Cheshire.

NHS and social care staff who have concerns about patient care can now access a new, free whistleblowing helpline from the 1 January, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said. The free whistleblowing helpline is funded by the Government and is part of the Government’s drive to tackle poor practice. This is in addition to the introduction of a contractual duty to raise concerns, which will be enshrined in the new NHS Constitution.