Dentist's widow loses judicial review

The widow of a Worcester dentist, John Bue, who died last year, made a claim against her PCT which had refused to transfer her late husband’s contract to an associate as had been agreed before his death. The Judge ruled in the favour of the PCT and that a PDS Agreement is personal to the dentist and does not form part of the estate of a deceased dentist.

GDPUK hopes to obtain a transcript of the judgement and a statement from the solicitors involved.


The BDA told GDPUK: ‘The BDA submitted a witness support statement which set out our interpretation of the regulations, explaining the background to the 2006 reforms, the manner in which dental practices change hands, and the role of the good will element in that. The BDA is now waiting for the transcript of the decision, upon which it will base its consideration of whether it would be appropriate for the organisation to take further action.’
The Department of Health said they were aware of the judgement, but had no further comment to make.

Background:

The owners of a Worcester dental surgery faced with closure have taken NHS Worcestershire to court. The running of the surgery, in Gresham Road, was put out to tender by the NHS after John Bue, the Worcester dentist who opened the practice, was killed in a motorbike crash in June last year.

The surgery questioned the way in which the NHS handled the situation and took the trust to Birmingham Crown Court to request a judicial review. The practice, which opened in 2002, has more than 7,000 patients on its books and employs eight people, including four part-time dentists.

When Mr Bue died NHS Worcestershire agreed for his widow, Jocelyn, to take over the day-to-day running of the practice until another dentist came forward to take over. Dr Anushika Sharma, the dentist who has been helping Mrs Bue run the practice for the past nine months, was on the verge of signing a deal when Mr Bue died. She believes that the NHS should have “used discretion” and claimed there was no need to put the tender out.

But a spokesman for the trust said it was legally required to tender for the service following Mr Bue’s unexpected death. She said: “NHS Worcestershire remains committed to ensuring there is NHS dental provision across the county for all who want it and has been doing all it can to ensure that dental services continue to be provided in Dines Green. This includes offering a six month extension to the existing Dines Green Dental Practice while the tendering process is completed which, regrettably, has been rejected.”

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