The NHS Information centre has published its statistics for April-June 2013, with patient numbers up until September this year. They show that 1.7 million more patients were seen in the previous two years than before the new contract started in 2006. Courses of treatment increased by 2.7% compared with the same quarter in the previous year.
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David Prior, the chairman of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), writing in the Telegraph (Feb 2, 2014), warns the NHS will “go bust” without radical change to drive up standards and rid hospitals of a “toxic” bullying culture that damages patient care. He says the safety of the most vulnerable patients is being jeopardised by a “dysfunctional” rift between NHS managers and clinical staff.
An exercise to recover money allegedly paid to dental practices because of bureaucratic errors by Scottish Government should be postponed because the data on which it is based appears to be seriously flawed, the British Dental Association (BDA) has warned.
In one of the more bizarre trends coming from the USA, some parents are having their babies’ lost molar teeth cast in sterling silver and made into necklace pendants. Artist Jackie Kaufman, who creates these tooth pendants said she’s had about 100 orders for the unique necklaces so far. “This is better than the Tooth Fairy” she said.
The number of Dental Foundation Training offers for 2014 has been announced. There were 1318 applications made to the 2014 Dental Foundation Training programme and of these, 1290 eligible candidates, including 123 from European Dental Schools and 70 from other dental schools worldwide, were invited for interview. So far, 80% of applicants have been offered places on dental foundation training schemes in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, starting in 2014.
Read more: Foundation Training: 244 dental students on reserve list
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has informed dental schools that there will be a 10% cut to student intake targets for 2014/15, across the board. This has not been officially announced, but GDPUK understands that schools are being informed.
The case of beautician, Hayley Wilding, which was reported on GDPUK, is to be reopened. On 20 December 2013 she was found guilty of unlawfully practising dentistry, by tooth whitening, at Lancaster Magistrates’ Court. However, she now claims that she had been unaware of the General Dental Council (GDC) prosecution and not received any letters from the court.
An Extraordinary General Meeting [EGM] of the British Dental Association [BDA] was announced to be on Friday 21st February 2014, to be held at the BDA building at 64 Wimpole Street, London W1 at 12.30pm
This was announced in the British Dental Journal, which was available online from Friday January 24th, and the information also became available publicly on the BDA website
Dentist MP, Sir Paul Beresford, has raised the need for gender-neutral HPV vaccination, which he said would lead to ‘a dramatic reduction’ in a number of cancers, including oral cancer. In reply minister, Jane Ellison, stressed the Government’s commitment to improving cancer outcomes and the importance of rapid diagnosis in improving survival rates for oral cancer.