The General Dental Council (GDC) has defended placing an advertisement in the Daily Telegraph saying that it was part of a publicity campaign to promote the Dental Complaints Service. It claims that 27% of patients do not know where to complain about poor treatment. It also said the cost was £5,500
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Read more: BDA challenges GDC to justify its inflammatory advertisement
Although sharing the concerns of those alarmed by the size of the increase, Dental Protection is warning dental professionals to tread carefully when making public their reaction and also to think before considering withholding their ARF as both actions would threaten their registration and ability to practise lawfully. Kevin Lewis, Dental Director for Dental Protection warned of the profession’s ‘growing loss of confidence in its regulator’.
Read more: Dental Protection signposts route for ARF protest
Results for the latest GP survey (Jan-Mar 2104), which includes dental questions, show positive findings for both NHS and private dentistry. 58% of respondents had visited an NHS dentist in the last two years. 84% of these rated their NHS dental experience as ‘positive’. Of those that tried to get an appointment in the last two years, 93% were successful. 21% did not try to get an NHS dental appointment in the last two years because they preferred private dentistry.
Dentists posting on GDPUK have reacted furiously to and advertisement inserted by the General Dental Council (GDC) into the Daily Telegraph on July 5. It was directed at private patients and urged them to complain if they were ‘not completely happy’ with their treatment.
The fifth edition of the EU Manual of Dental Practice has been published by the Council of European Dentists (CED). The Manual is a comprehensive reference document describing the legal and ethical regulations, dental training requirements, oral health systems and the organisation of dental practice in the 32 European (EU and EEA) countries.
Read more: Updated manual on dentistry across Europe published
The latest NASDAL goodwill survey reaffirms the ongoing appeal of an NHS contract, with NHS practices and mixed practices still commanding higher prices. Alan Suggett, who is responsible for the survey, said that looming changes in NHS contracts seem to have had no impact on NHS goodwill values despite the spectre of possible time limitation of contracts under pressure from the OFT.
Read more: Private buyers outbidding large corporates in practice sales
The British Dental Association (BDA) condemns Government plans to impose a pay cut on foundation dentists (FDs) of more than £2,000 from September, and will be exploring all legal avenues to challenge this decision. Chair of the Principal Executive Committee, Mick Armstrong, said: “seeking efficiency savings from FDs is inappropriate, and unfairly penalises young dentists who are not in a position to resist this pressure”
The British Dental Association (BDA) has called on the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to initiate an urgent investigation into the competence of the General Dental Council (GDC) following a poor appraisal of its performance by the Professional Standards Authority, and the dental community’s outrage over a proposed 64 per cent hike in the annual retention fee (ARF).