NHS England, the Government, and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee have reached agreement on changes to the GP contract in England for 2016/17, to take effect from 1 April 2016. The new contract will see an investment of £220 million for 2016/17 – part of this will provide a pay uplift of one per cent for GPs.
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The British Dental Association (BDA) has insisted that practices are not penalised following IT failures in the new NHS ‘Compass’ system, which could leave many failing to meet contractual requirements. The BDA had expressed grave concerns about bringing in a new system so close to the end of the financial year, but had received repeated assurances from the BSA that these concerns were misplaced.
Read more: BDA: dentists must not pay price for failure of Compass system
There was strong press reaction to the report that thousands of children have had their decayed teeth removed in hospital over the last four years. Also a response came from Sara Hurley, chief dental officer at NHS England, who said: “It’s really disappointing that even though people understand the impact of a sugary diet so many children have advanced tooth decay – a highly preventable disease. With regular visits for advice, prevention and earlier intervention we can avoid the need for general anaesthetic for the removal of teeth that are beyond repair.”
The Health and Social Care Information Centre has published data which show that there were 14,445 cases among children aged under five, being admitted to hospital for extractions under general anaesthetic in 2014/2015. Among those aged six to 10, there were a further 19,336 cases. Overall in 2014/15, there were 33,781 cases. This is up from 32,741 in 2013/14 and 31,275 in 2012/13. There were also 30,761 cases in 2011/12.
Read more: GAs for dental extractions in children on increase
During a House of Lords debate on ‘the ability of the NHS to meet present and future demands, retired dentist Lord Colwyn raised the problem of caries in children and subsequent hospital admission for extractions. He urged Ministers to consider ‘investing in a national oral health programme’ such as is present in Scotland and Wales, as well as looking at options to end ‘Britain’s addiction to sugar’
Read more: Lord Colwyn urges Government to take action over child decay
Dental Protection has appointed Raj Rattan MBE as its new Dental Director, to succeed Kevin Lewis, who will step down this summer. Raj has over 30 years’ experience in dental practice and has been associated with Dental Protection for over 20 years, first as a dentolegal adviser and more recently as a senior dentolegal consultant. Speaking on his appointment, Raj said: “It is a huge privilege to be given the opportunity to lead a very talented team who are dedicated to dentistry.”
Long waiting lists for children and young people needing orthodontic treatment are unacceptable and may reflect underfunding of services, said Guy Deeming, Chairman of the British Orthodontic Society’s Orthodontic Specialists Group, speaking on the BBC last week. In East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, there are long waits for children to get the treatment they need and some are having to travel out of the area.
A class-action lawsuit has been taken out against Benco Dental in the USA which accuses the dental supplies distributor of conspiring to impede competitors in an illegal effort to boost the price of its own sales. The lawsuit accuses Benco of conspiring with Patterson Companies and Henry Schein in a scheme to inflate prices of dental supplies above competitive levels by pressuring dental associations not to deal with newer, cheaper distributors.
Read more: US dental supply companies accused of anti-competitive practices
With an estimated 1.7 billion cups of coffee sold each year in the UK from over 18,000 outlets and one in five of the population visiting a coffee shop daily, campaign group Action on Sugar has warned of the dangerously high sugar content of certain hot beverages found in many high street coffee shop chains. FGDP(UK) says that the ‘shocking’ amount of sugar in some hot drinks is further evidence of the need for bold action to make it easier for people to make healthy dietary choices.
Read more: Shocking amount of sugar found in many hot flavoured drinks