Chief Dental Officer Tells LDC’s Of ‘Uncomfortable Truths”
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- Published: Friday, 18 June 2021 09:24
- Written by Chris Tapper
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The dental profession isn’t “As inclusive as we may wish to believe,” the Chief Dental Officer of England told the Local Dental Committee Annual National Conference.
Giving her CDO update at the start of the conference, Dr Sara Hurley said that the Black Lives Matter movement had “Exposed racism across all societies.”
Dr Hurley said “The profession absolutely galvanised behind the Diversity in Dentistry Action Group, truly demonstrating that we’re not afraid to hold the mirror up to ourselves.”
The CDO said the DDAG report exposed some “Uncomfortable truths,” adding that the publication of the group’s report “Isn’t job done. There’s more to do and action to take.”
The CDO spoke as the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS) launched a new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
The MDDUS launched the strategy to mark Pride Month and follows the launch of the Diversity in Dentistry Action Group’s own recent report.
In her opening remarks in the DDAG report, Chair Dr Nishma Sharma said “Racism has no place in our society. End of.”
“The dental profession must be part of the change we all need, to step up and stamp out prejudice, and to build diverse and supportive cultures of respect and fairness for all.”
“Whilst it has been good to listen, to empathise, to start to understand how it feels to walk in others’ shoes, never did I think that the profession we belong to, invest in, have faith in would not welcome others the way I have always felt welcomed,” Dr Sharma said.
The DDAG lists its priorities as creating a diverse, inclusive and representative workforce with equal opportunities in the workplace, creating diverse, inclusive and representative educational environments and ensuring equitable access to dental care for patients and the public.
The report ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within Dentistry – a profession wide commitment’ can be accessed here.
Dr Sharma told GDPUK the report took six months to compile.
In an introduction to the report, Dr Hurley said “The Diversity in Dentistry Action Group has focused, quite rightfully, on race. However, we are all too aware that inequality and barriers to success exist for women, our LGBT+ community, those with a disability, people who are from different socio-economic backgrounds and many more.”
“This isn’t “job done” – there is more to do, more perspectives to understand, more stories to listen to – and action to take.”
Among recommendations in the report, it lists “Working collaboratively to influence policy, shape culture and transform the profession’s approach to race equality.”
The DDAG also wants to “Develop the workforce, across the dental pipeline from dental school entry, apprentice/training programmes to senior leadership, through education, role modelling and leadership development.”
Data cited in the report suggests that in 2016/17 only 1.7% of dentists and 2.2% of Dental Care Professionals identified as Black. Statistics from a Freedom of Information request to the GDC in 2020 showed that 67% of registrants overall identified as White (51% of dentists and 75% of DCP’s).
Medical and dental data from The Higher Education Statistics Agency showed that two thirds of students (63%) were recorded as being of White ethnicity, a quarter (24%) were of Asian ethnicity and only 3.7% were recorded as being of Black ethnicity.
On treatment received by patients, the report said “Equality and inclusion are fundamental to dental care, yet whether overt or through unconscious bias, we know that racism within healthcare and society still occurs. Bias held by dental professionals can affect quality of care.”
“Consider the survey study conducted by Patel et al (2019)12 which measured explicit bias in the treatment offered by dentists and their perception of patient dental cooperativeness.”
“The findings showed White patients were more likely to be recommended root canal treatment for presentation of a decayed tooth with symptoms of irreversible pulpitis, whilst Black patients were more likely to be offered dental extractions.”
The DDAG was established by the Office of the Chief Dental Officer (OCDO) England in June 2020 is co-ordinated by a Strategic Oversight Group (SOG).
The purpose of the group is to co-create a shared strategic approach to action change by working across all stakeholders, with integrity, intelligence, and openness.
Dental Protection said it welcomed the “Vital report setting out commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in dentistry.”
Dr Raj Rattan, Dental Director at Dental Protection and a member of the DDAG stakeholder group, said “We welcome this vital report and are pleased it has been supported by a wide range of dental organisations. There is a duty on all of us in the dental profession to ensure we play our part in creating a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion.
“An ongoing commitment is needed if we are to reap the many benefits of cultural competence within the profession and reduce the risk of ethnocentricity. This can affect the patient experience and may also have a detrimental effect on treatment outcomes.”
“We know that inclusivity lies at the heart of progress and at Dental Protection we are committed to taking active steps in this area - that’s why we have set up a Diversity and Inclusion forum within MPS to drive this forward, reflect on our own diversity and inclusion, and ensure we are providing the best possible support to all healthcare professionals.”
The DDAG Stakeholder group includes many organisations from all over UK dentistry.
Stakeholders include the GDC, CQC, BDA, BADT, BSDHT and are lending their support, as are the College of General Dentistry and NASDAL. The full list can be found here.
The Faculty of General Dental Practice said on its website “We are committed to addressing the impact of discrimination and believe this will benefit our patients and our profession.”
The FGDP website quoted Ian Mills, Dean of the FGDP(UK), who said said that dental leaders have a “Moral obligation to support social justice through a culture and environment of inclusivity.”
The Faculty said that following the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020, it committed to “Educate itself about the issues that affect BAME communities, and ensure the organisation actively promotes inclusion at every level.”
The FGDP also committed to ‘Invite dental health care representatives from Black, Asian, Chinese and other minority groups to join a task force to identify the areas in dentistry which directly or indirectly disadvantage these groups” and “Collaborate with organisations and individuals across the profession to actively promote equality, diversity and inclusiveness in general dental practice.”
DDAG Chair Dr Sharma said “My eyes have been opened to the fact that my experiences of racism were not the same as my other colleagues, peers, friends.”
“My stories, perspectives, feelings were different, but the clear thread of hate, prejudice and ignorance bound us together. How did I not see the hugely disproportionate void of Black representation in our dental schools, workforce, specialisms, academia, senior leadership roles?”
“How could I have missed the blatant barriers to admission, acceptance, progression and attainment within the dental world?”
Dr Sharma accepts there is still much work to do.
She told GDPUK “It’s not perfect. There’s a long road ahead. But it’s a baby step in the right direction.”
Welcoming the launch of its new strategy, MDDUS Director of People and Corporate Services, Kim Johnstone, said “Our Group Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement affirms our commitment to reflect the diversity of all of our members and customers, and to be a champion for their interests.
“It also supports MDDUS colleagues to feel safe and able to be their true selves at work – we know that when they are able to do so, they are better placed to support members and customers in their time of need.
“At its very core, that is the aim of our strategy – for people to be safe and comfortable to be themselves.
“We wish all of our members, customers and colleagues a very happy Pride Month”
Over-represented ethnic groups face discrimination from CDO
Not helpful Sara. It sounds like she might be planning to exclude us asian & asian/british from dentistry in order to get more white and black dentists into the profession. I can only wonder where her line of "reasoning" and her selective use of statistics leads us. Not helping the causeAccording to the 2011 Census, the ethnic composition of the United Kingdom is set out in the table below.
Ethnic group Population (2011) Percentage of total population[21]
White or White British: Total 55,010,359 87.1
Gypsy/Traveller/Irish Traveller: Total 63,193 0.1
Asian or Asian British: Indian 1,451,862 2.3
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani 1,174,983 1.9
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi 451,529 0.7
Asian or Asian British: Chinese 433,150 0.7
Asian or Asian British: Other Asian 861,815 1.4
Asian or Asian British: Total 4,373,339 7.0
Black or Black British: Total[note 1] 1,904,684 3.0
Mixed or Multiple: Total 1,250,229 2.0
Other Ethnic Group: Total 580,374 0.9
Total 63,182,178 100
More snowflake nonsense !
Really ? Dentistry not inclusive ?Could someone please do the maths on the UK demographic.
I’m not sure ( but someone will tell me ) what percentage of the uk population identifies as or actually is one of the many varied , lovely different types of human being there are out there.
Then could the same process be applied to dentistry?
I’ve only been involved in this profession for three decades or so, but I think I’ve spent enough time at conferences and with colleagues to have seen that we are a superb example of a diverse group of people.
I find it insulting that the CDO wishes to virtue signal in this way, but I guess she thinks we’ll love her all the more for it.
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