COVID-19 Update: BDA announces breakthrough on furlough for mixed practices
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- Published: Sunday, 05 April 2020 18:16
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The BDA has confirmed that a breakthrough on furlough for mixed practices has been made. Chair Mick Armstrong says it will be a ‘lifeline’ to many practices. The Lancet has also published an article on urgent dental care for patients during the pandemic – a link is given to the full article. Finally, an updated financial support package has been announced for dentists in Northern Ireland.
The BDA’s Coronavirus update page[i] is available to all whether or not they are members and is continuously revised.
Breakthrough on furlough for mixed practices
The BDA has welcomed conformation from both the Treasury and NHS England that mixed practices can make full use of the furlough scheme in proportion to their private activity. Access to the scheme had not appeared an option for employers receiving public funding from the NHS. The BDA has been pressing NHS England to offer assurances that mixed NHS/private practices could access wider government support to cover private work, as well as support from the NHS.
Dental practice employees include nurses and non-clinical administrative staff, but not dentists and many hygienists and therapists, who operate on a self-employed basis. Many of those self-employed professionals will currently miss out on any government support due to the upper earnings limit set by the Chancellor.
British Dental Association Chair Mick Armstrong said: “Without the ability to furlough staff thousands of dental practices would have faced an uphill struggle to survive this pandemic. This flexibility will offer a lifeline to many practices facing a deeply uncertain future.”
Urgent dental care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic
The Lancet has published[ii] an article by Manas Dave, Noha Seoudi and Paul Coulthard on urgent dental care for patients during the pandemic.
The article says that dental and oral surgery procedures using drills or ultrasonic devices cause aerosol release, and routine dentistry has therefore been suspended in several countries, including the UK, to reduce virus transmission. It also points out that there is an urgent need for organised emergency dental care delivered by teams provided with appropriate PPE.
The article continues: ‘Early management of acute dental emergencies is important to avert patients from Accident and Emergency services and to avoid hospital admissions. One concern is that more patients than usual could need admission for the management of acute dental infections that threaten the airway and require intensive care.
Patients with substantial swellings can progress to life-threatening emergencies, which can increase risks in the setting of reduced health-care availability. For such patients, the authors say, extractions should be prioritised over restorative rescue, and input from dedicated oral surgery and oral and maxillofacial services and close follow-up should be instigated as locally appropriate.
Finally, they recommend that testing for COVID-19 in dental professionals should be undertaken with the same high priority as that of medical health-care workers in hospitals.
Northern Ireland: Updated financial support package announced
Following mounting pressure from our NI Dental Practice Committee throughout the week, the NI Department of Health has published details of a revised financial support package. GDPs in Northern Ireland can expect to receive 80% of gross IoS payments – including patient contributions – plus capitation payments and other allowances. In return, it is expected that the staff costs associated with the normal delivery of HSC dental care will continue to be paid by GDPs. Finally, the letter implies that GDPs will be allowed to claim wider government support schemes to cover the shortfall in private earnings.
[i] https://bda.org/advice/Coronavirus/Pages/latest-updates.aspx
[ii] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30806-0/fulltext?rss=yes
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