Six dentists appear in the 2021 New Year Honours list which names hundreds of people for their work in the Covid pandemic. They are Professor Barbara Chadwick, Kenneth Macdonald, Satyesh Parmar, Heather Pope and Asha Thomson. All were appointed MBE, with a BEM for David Scrafton.
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The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD), the organisation committed to improving the oral health of children in the UK, is calling for more co-ordinated steps to tackle both dental decay and obesity to stop thousands of children growing up to face a lifetime of disadvantage. The BSPD wants to see clearer food labelling and further sugar reduction in food and drinks frequently consumed by children.
Read more: Dental caries and obesity must be tackled together, says BSPD
MP Fleur Anderson (@PutneyFleur) has secured a debate in the House of Commons on the impact of COVID on dental services. She is the Labour MP for Putney and in a recent tweet invited comments from her constituents and local dental practices. Also the Minister has replied to a question about dental services in Yorkshire.
Read more: Commons debate on COVID/dentistry now January 14th
Despite warnings from the BDA about the dangers of re-introducing UDA targets in the fourth quarter of 2020/21 and stricter lockdown for patients, the Government is pushing ahead with the imposition of a 45% activity target for dental practices in England. If they fail to deliver this percentage, clawback will apply, with draconian consequences for anyone achieving less than 36% of target.
Read more: Targets back with a vengeance in England despite stricter lockdown
The British Dental Association, Faculty of General Dental Practice UK and College of General Dentistry have joined forces to conduct a survey into discrimination in dentistry. Onkar Dhanoya, Chair of the Programme Board, said: “Dentistry is a caring profession by nature, but the experiences of some dentists suggest that as a profession we don’t always treat our colleagues as well as we do our patients.”
The government’s move to impose new targets in England will pull the life support away from NHS dentistry and undermine patient care, argues Dave Cottam, GDPC Chair. He says: “Today we have refused to sign up to a deal which will see practices face steep financial penalties if they are unable to hit 45% of their pre-pandemic UDA targets. The government has decided to press ahead with a target that will ‘threaten practice viability and undermine patient care’.
Read more: New UDA targets to be imposed in England from January