A woman was ordered to pay £155 after turning up drunk and swearing inside the premises of a Hereford dentist surgery. Louise Ruth Evans admitted a charge of being drunk and disorderly when she appeared at Hereford Magistrates Court. The Court was told: "She had obviously been drinking, officers smelt alcohol on her and she was unsteady on her feet.”
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The General Dental Council has published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2015, giving details of the activities in 2015 and its aspirations for the year ahead, as it seeks to move forward with the work outlined in its roadmap Patients, Profession, Public and Performance.
William Moyes, GDC Chair said: "We are clear that our purpose is to protect patients. The last twelve months has seen us fundamentally change the way we work to prepare for further changes that lie ahead.”
Following the recent Cabinet re-shuffle, Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has rearranged ministerial responsibilities in the Department of Health. Under Secretary David Mowat includes all elements of primary care – including dentistry and pharmacy in his portfolio and Nicola Blackwood will be responsible for Dental Public Health.
The annual survey of dental patients showed that 95% of people who tried to make an appointment for NHS dentistry were successful and 85% rated their experience as positive. Of the two fifths of respondents who had not tried to make an appointentt 38% mentioned private dentistry as the reason for not trying to get an NHS appointment; and 22% said they had “not needed to visit the dentist”.
Read more: Almost all people (95%) who try can make NHS dental appointment
The Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK) has expressed its support for a new standards document on cancer referrals from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Dr Mick Horton, Dean of the Faculty, said: “The NHS’s ‘Patient information for urgent referrals’ leaflet is an excellent one-page resource aimed at patients who are being urgently referred by a GP or dentist for suspected cancer.”
Read more: FGDP(UK) supports push for faster cancer diagnosis
Birkenhead MP Frank Field has called for urgent Government action to tackle what he calls the rising tide of children going to hospital for tooth extractions and 'shocking inequalities' in oral health. He said: “He said: "None of us should be content knowing that children are four times more likely to suffer from tooth decay just because they happened to be born in Birkenhead and not in the Health Secretary's constituency (West Surrey)”.
Children in North Manchester are facing waits of up to a year for tooth extractions, because of a severe shortage of children’s nurses. Pennine Acute hospital trust, which covers one of the worst areas in the country for child tooth decay, has a backlog of at least 300 cases. Local dentists say that they have been asked not to add any more children to the waiting list.
Read more: Long waits for GA blamed on shortage of children’s nurses
Dentists attending the Local Dental Committees’ annual conference in Manchester (9-10 June) will call on the government to get to grips with its failure to stem the crisis in child tooth decay, as new figures show that in 2014–15 over 179,00 teeth were removed in children aged nine and under in dental practices across England. Although the Department of Health has recently announced details of 10 pilot preventive programmes in England, the BDA is concerned that there is no dedicated funding.
Read more: BDA calls on Government to tackle child tooth decay crisis
As part of Prime Minister Theresa May’s reshuffle three ministers have left the Department of Health, Alistair Burt MP responsible for GDS dentistry to backbenches, Jane Ellison MP (Public Health) to the Treasury and Ben Gummer MP (GDC) to the Cabinet Office. Philip Dunne (MP for Ludlow), Nicola Blackwood (MP for Oxford West and Abingdon) and David Mowat (MP for Warrington South) join the Department.