| The Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) has issued a damning report on the work of the General Dental Council (GDC) over the past year, especially in the area of Fitness to Practise. Its report says: “We are particularly concerned with the scale of improvements that are required around the GDC’s fitness to practise work.†|
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No comments| A ground-breaking invention, invented by dentist Dr John Meechan, which promises reduced pain for dental injections, has won a major national innovation award. The special syringe cartridge works by reducing the acidity of the injection by mixing in a neutralising liquid just before the injection is delivered. |
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| A rapid rise in the rate of oropharyngeal cancer among men is being linked to human papillomavirus (HPV), and the number of cases could increase by almost 30% by 2020, surpassing the number of cervical cancers in women, according to research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago. |
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| The British Dental Trade Association (BDTA) has reminded practices about a warning given by the General Dental Council (GDC) to keep equipment up to date. This follows disciplinary hearings involving complaints about failure to maintain equipment properly and failure to retain proper written evidence of maintenance and certification for use. |
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Read more: GDC tells the profession to keep equipment up to date
| The school of dentistry at Queen’s University in Belfast is at the centre of an official probe over concerns about the level of resources and quality of teaching. The university is at risk of losing the accreditation it requires from the General Dental Council (GDC) to allow it to teach dental students. It comes as Queen’s is having to make £11m in efficiency savings and absorb 200 job losses. |
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Pilots of a new dental contract based on capitation are proving successful, but more time is needed to evaluate how they can effectively replace the current UDA system, delegates from across the dentistry sector heard today.
Speaking in central London on Tuesday July 5th at a seminar of the Westminster Health Forum, which seeks to unite the views of practitioners with those of policymakers, Dr Susie Sanderson, chair of the BDA’s executive board, said the biggest challenge for the new contract was finding a way to improve oral health and patient confidence, and deliver prevention, while eliminating perverse incentives,
writes Jonathan Gilbert, GDPUK's special correspondent.
The UDA system came under fierce criticism from Dr John Milne, chair of the BDA’s General Dental Practice Committee, who said that target-driven contracts have created a “moral hazard” for dentists under extreme pressure to treat patients in order to guarantee their income.
Read more: Health Forum hears strong criticisms and concerns for future contracting
