Dentists’ concerns over D’Mello’s workload
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- Published: Wednesday, 07 January 2015 08:05
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The Nottingham Post has reported dentists’ concerns about the high number of UDAs disgraced dentists Desmond D’Mello had to provide. Two Nottinghamshire dentists have said most dentists are expected to perform 7,000 UDA’s per year. But an NHS contract report showed Mr D’Mello’s two-person practice was contracted to do 29,000 UDA’s in 2014-15.
It is claimed the dentist was doing more than double the amount of work of other practices and the commissioning body in charge failed to notice this. Dr Amarjit Gill, from Grangewood Dental Practice, said: “The people responsible are the Local Area Team (LAT) and they have been incredibly invisible. The whole system and the way they (contracts) are simply awarded and not checked is flawed. The average number of UDA’s per dentist is 7,000, so even with two dentists working there, they were still doing more than double the average.”
Dr Simon Thackeray, a dentist who runs a private practice in Mansfield, has written to the director of commissioning at the Nottingham LAT asking why the situation was not picked up earlier. He said the LAT, who are run by NHS England, should have noticed Mr D’Mello was under pressure due to the amount of work he was taking on. He believes they should have seen that it was impossible for the Daybrook Dental Surgery to complete the contract without standards of care being affected.
Dr Thackeray wrote: “I am concerned that there appears to be no explanation forthcoming as to why nobody ever thought to ask why such a vast amount of UDA’s were being commissioned from such a small practice. It appears it is patently impossible for one dentist (or even two) to achieve this without significant compromise in the care of the patients.”
A spokesman for NHS England said: “I can confirm we are in receipt of a letter from Dr Simon Thackeray, requesting release of data under the Freedom of Information Act and will be responding in due course, in line with legislative requirements of the Act.”
A spokeswoman for the British Dental Association added: “Dental contractors have to deliver an agreed number of units each year. The BDA has long argued that this is a crude measure in a target-driven contract, that is neither good for patients nor the profession.”
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