Dear Mr Whiting,

Welcome to the world of dental regulation.

NHS Dentistry has been the sick service of the NHS for a long time. Not given importance by successive governments and treated like an optional extra, a nice to have but not necessary service. Their neglect over the years and decades has finally come home to roost and we are now in a position where NHS Dentistry will be one of the top 5 concerns for voters at the next General Election due at some time this year.

NHSE suddenly announced on 12^th April that it had decided to cut the funding for secondary care practitioners accessing NHS Practitioner Health with immediate effect. This decision shocked the medical and dental profession, particularly those who have used the service or have recommended the service to colleagues. 

Hobbies eh? Who has the time for them? With the crazy hours that many dentists work, the very word hobby would likely be something they come across when they read about the lives of other people, but I’m used to something that I heard back when I was active in Politics.

“Give a task to a busy person and they’ll find a way to get it done.”

This is one of those flashback/PTSD moments. It takes me back to a very stressful period in my life when I came close to ending it at various moments. The process of registering as a dentist in the UK for someone who was from outside the EU/EEA was onerous.