BDA meets Welsh Secretary of State
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- Published: Wednesday, 01 March 2017 07:37
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The Chair of the Welsh General Dental Practice Committee, Katrina Clarke, and BDA Wales staff visited Barry in South Wales to meet with Alun Cairns, the Member of Parliament for Vale of Glamorgan who serves in Theresa May's Cabinet as Secretary of State for Wales.
BDA Wales reached out to Mr Cairns after he wrote a blog raising his concerns about difficulties his constituents were having accessing NHS dentistry. In the meeting, we explained to Mr Cairns the underlying reasons for these problems, explaining in depth the flaws of the current activity-based system, and emphasising the urgent need for dental contract reform.
Mr Cairns acknowledged the challenges related to delivering Units of Dental Activity, and pledged to investigate whether population growth in Wales has been matched by an appropriate rise in the number of UDAs commissioned in each area.
The BDA also highlighted the persistent oral health inequalities in Wales, and stressed that despite the progress made in recent years oral health outcomes of Welsh children continue to lag behind those of their English peers. The potential impact of Brexit on the dental profession was discussed too, as well as the low morale amongst the profession.
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