Those who are interested in being part of the Advisory Group should submit a statement of intent to their NHS Board by 31 July for consideration. Please note that dental contractors should be at least 70% NHS committed and for any members of the wider practice team their practice should be at least 70% NHS committed. The group plans to meet virtually on a fortnightly basis with meetings lasting no longer than two hours.
We have stressed that the Scottish Government needs to consider a wide range of views when discussing contractual reform, and have raised concerns that disqualifying any practice or dentist with less than 70% NHS commitment from participating in these important discussions will exclude many experienced practitioners. Many heavily NHS-committed dentists will also be unable to take part in discussions as they will be too busy delivering additional activity to compensate for the reduced multiplier that was introduced at the start of July.
The Business Services Organisation (BSO) are now accepting applications for the
August 2022 RSS payment. Information must be submitted electronically, or it will not be accepted.
You must apply for the August 2022 payment by 5pm on Monday 8 August, the BSO will not be accepting or processing any applications after the deadline and payments will not be made.
You do not need a Cryptocard or access to the BSO secure portal to complete your application and it can be done securely via desktop or mobile devices. You can access more information and support on the
BSO website.
10:44
NHS England: Year-end reconciliation letters NHS Business Services Authority (BSA) has uploaded year-end reconciliation letters onto Compass today, and they are available to view now.
If you have any questions regarding your year-end reconciliation, NHS BSA advise you to contact them at
nhsbsa.dentalcases@nhs.net.
On behalf of NHS England and Improvement, NHS BSA have also shared
additional information covering reconciliation arrangements for 2022/23 for dental providers and commissioners in England. This should help address some questions they’ve received from practices.
Thursday 28 July 2022
15:23
England: NHS dentists and the Healthier Futures Action Fund
NHS dentists who are interested in making greener choices for the sake of the environment can apply for the Healthier Futures Action Fund (HFAF).
The fund supports individuals and teams within NHS organisations to kick-start innovative initiatives or ideas that will improve health and patient care, reduce inequalities, and deliver good value, while supporting a more sustainable health service.
It is
open for applications between 6 July and 19 August 2022 from individuals and teams within the NHS. Find out more about the Healthier Futures Action Fund and how to apply on FutureNHS (you will need to register for a FutureNHS account to access this information).
09:17
Survey: Taking the temperature of dentistry
We are asking dentists across the UK to share their views on the recent pay uplift, the situation on contractual arrangements and the prospect for reform.
We need your feedback to help us shape our plans in the year ahead – please take our
5-minute survey
Dentists are facing unprecedented pressure, in all fields of practice and in every UK nation. The recent pay uplifts go nowhere near even keeping pace with inflation, let alone addressing the real terms pay-cut dentists have endured over the last decade.
Terms and conditions in many fields of practice are outdated and not fit for purpose, and we need to keep up the pressure, to ensure meaningful change.
We need to hear your views on the ways you might consider pitching in to help push decision-makers to act, so we can amplify our efforts and be the collective voice for dentistry.
Wednesday 27 July 2022
15:52
Northern Ireland: Out of Hours restored Out of Hours services are restored for dentists in the Belfast, South Eastern, Northern and Southern LDC areas from Saturday 30 July.
Practices who have opted to join the Emergency Dental Centres (EDC) rota should receive:
It is not directly applicable to orthodontists, DFTs or Oral Surgeons (although Oral Surgeons may wish to work in the EDCs).
The option of using the EDC facility to meet the emergency cover requirements of the GDS Regulations is available only to those practitioners who are on the rota or have applied to join it via the recent surveys.
Unfortunately, there is currently no EDC available to dentists in the Western area.
Anyone wishing to join the rota who has not already done so can still apply by emailing
gds.correspondence@hscni.net
09:33
Wales: Ministers claim ‘access boost’ without investment Claims from the Welsh Government that their new plans will significantly boost patient access are potentially misleading.
Following the precedent set in England last week, Welsh Ministers are now saying that changes to recall intervals will somehow create capacity in the service. They claim this will lead to 112,000 new patients.
The facts are it could take a dozen healthy patients forfeiting annual check-ups to allow one new high-needs patient to be seen. NICE guidelines are not changing and have been in place for 18 years.
The numbers being pedalled here do not appear to have emerged from any serious modelling or epidemiological data. We believe this is back of an envelope stuff, designed to chase headlines rather than solve problems. We have stressed that sustained investment is essential to meaningfully enhance access and halt the exodus from the service.
Our reality check is now leading the news across the
BBC and
ITV in Wales, and we are pleased this ‘sticking plaster’ policy is already drawing criticism from across the political spectrum. We will keep you updated.
Tuesday 26 July 2022
14:46
DFT recruitment moves to SJT only The Dental Foundation Training (DFT) National Recruitment Selection for those starting DFT in September 2023 will use only a Situational Judgement Test (SJT),
COPDEND has announced.
Applicants will not be asked to undertake a communication station and the SJT will account for 100% of the overall assessment score.
COPDEND has said this decision was taken “following careful consideration of evidence from an independently commissioned Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) report on 2019-2021 DFT National recruitments. The report highlighted significant differential
performance gaps for some ethnic minority applicants, which is particularly associated with both the face to face (2019) and virtual (2021) communication stations. This was less significant when the SJT alone was used for the 2020 recruitment round.”
The BDA’s Students Committee met with COPDEND to discuss the evidence from the EIA report and, despite concerns about an SJT only process, accepted that this change was necessary for this year. However, we do not believe that an SJT only process is a viable long-term solution for DFT recruitment.
This approach will apply to the 2023 recruitment round. We will work with COPDEND to discuss future DFT assessment processes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 2024 onwards.
14:08
Scotland and Northern Ireland: Moving patients to private care
We have updated the moving patients to private care section of our
private practice advice sheets for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Three months' notice is required to move a patient to private care, but it can be done immediately if the patient agrees to the move. It is important to keep paper records to demonstrate patients are moving voluntarily and have been made aware of the entitlement to three months' notice.
If you have any questions, our advice team are available to Extra and Expert members throughout the UK by calling 020 7935 0875 or emailing
advice.enquiries@bda.org.
12:11
Scotland: Reminder about NHS Model Survey and CDO Advisory Group
The Chief Dental Officer (CDO) has sent
a reminder to the dental profession in Scotland about the survey on the possible list of treatments for inclusion in a future NHS model and the nomination process for membership of the CDO Advisory Group. The
survey will be open until 31 July.
Those who are interested in being part of the Advisory Group should submit a statement of intent to their NHS Board by 31 July for consideration. Please note that dental contractors should be at least 70% NHS committed and for any members of the wider practice team their practice should be at least 70% NHS committed. The group plans to meet virtually on a fortnightly basis with meetings lasting no longer than two hours.
We have stressed that the Scottish Government needs to consider a wide range of views when discussing contractual reform, and have raised concerns that disqualifying any practice or dentist with less than 70% NHS commitment from participating in these important discussions will exclude many experienced practitioners. Many heavily NHS-committed dentists will also be unable to take part in discussions as they will be too busy delivering additional activity to compensate for the reduced multiplier that was introduced at the start of July.
Monday 25 July 2022
13:24
Scotland: Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020
In March we informed members about the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 which will be fully implemented by 2024. The aim of the new law is to make the disclosure process in Scotland simpler and easier to understand and to keep vulnerable groups safer. Under the Act, dental practice owners will need to renew their staff's Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) membership status every five years.
In preparation for the Act, Disclosure Scotland need users help to ensure the data they hold is up to date. They have
provided a document for users to consider which includes how to notify them when a PVG member stops doing regulated work within an organisation to ensure users are compliant with data protection legislation.
09:28
England: Health Committee slams contract fuelling crisis in NHS dentistry
The House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee has reached a damning verdict on the NHS contract and pledged to hold a dedicated inquiry into the crisis in this service.
This is a huge milestone for us.
Our members provided us with the damning evidence we presented to the Committee in May, and news comes just days after government moved forward with marginal tweaks to the widely discredited contract,
that failed to address any of its fundamental flaws.
"At least the Health Committee recognises the urgency here" says GDPC Chair Shawn Charlwood. "With every day that passes dentists are walking away from the NHS, and it will take more than rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic to stem the flow."
