John Milne calls for ‘continued vigilance’
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- Published: Wednesday, 15 August 2012 19:54
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| Continued vigilance will be essential in assessing the pilots for a new dental contract in England, the British Dental Association (BDA) has said following the publication of its evaluation of their progress so far. Writing in a blog for the BDA’s website, General Dental Practice Committee chair Dr John Milne said that he would continue listening to the profession and continue scrutinising every turn of the pilots' progress.
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In his blog John Milne highlights concerns arising from BDA focus groups. These include anxieties about the feasibility of implementation in small practices, the impact on the working patterns of associate dentists and the feasibility of introducing new arrangements in a single phase. A comprehensive campaign to explain any changes that are made to patients will be vital, he stresses.
Feedback from the pilots also identified changing working patterns of different team members, with hygienists and therapists playing a more significant role and associates fearing unemployment as a consequence of that.
While DCPs may be delighting in the enhanced role they may be able to play, the feedback from the pilots is a real concern for associate colleagues and we will be looking very closely at this issue on their collective behalf.
‘There is clearly much to think about, but there's also time to consider further what the pilots are telling us’, he says.
But he also argues that the emergence of these concerns must not be allowed to frighten the profession into withdrawing support for them, emphasising the significant amount of positive commentary about the pilots, including the improved morale of dental professionals participating in them and an ability to adopt a more preventive approach to care. Tellingly, Dr Milne argues, some participants said that the pilots allowed them to return to the kind of dentistry they were taught at dental school.
The blog also sees Dr Milne argue that the profession’s continuing frustrations with the current contractual system must not allow it to be lulled into accepting what is being piloted unquestioningly, insisting that more time and continuing engagement are vital to getting the reforms right.
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