Friday 1 July 2022
12:57
England: Mandatory training on learning disabilities and autism
Starting today, all health and social care providers registered with the CQC must ensure that their staff receive training on learning disabilities and autism. This new legal requirement is introduced by the Health and Care Act 2022.
Following the introduction of this requirement, the CQC will be looking to see whether providers have provided learning disability and autism training, and assess the competencies of their staff following the training.
The publication of the Code of Practice may take at least 12 months, but the CQC will provide statutory guidance while the Code of Practice is being developed.
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training is based on the Core Capabilities Frameworks for Supporting People with a Learning Disability and for Supporting Autistic People. It has also been co-designed by autistic people, people with a learning disability, family carers and subject matter experts.
11:09
Northern Ireland: Changes to Level II claims from 7 July
Members should be aware that amendments have been made to the use of Item 30 in the Statement of Dental Remuneration (SDR). Item 30 allows dentists to claim fees for the use of Level II Personal Protective Equipment in the provision of Aerosol Generating Procedures.
In line with changes to the Infection Prevention Control (IPC) guidance in Northern Ireland, claims can only be made if and when Aerosol Generating Procedures (APG) are used when a patient has a known or suspected respiratory pathogen, and when an unacceptable risk of transmission remains following the Hierarchy of Controls risk assessment.
Guidance has been issued on what details need to be included on the patient record, observations and use of Level II PPE with no associated APG item of service.
The changes will be implemented from 7 July 2022.
Thursday 30 June 2022
16:43
Northern Ireland: Out of hours deadline
We have campaigned for the re-establishment of Out of Hours Emergency Dental Centres (EDCs) post-pandemic as a matter of priority. The Department had issued a further call for Expressions of Interest from practitioners in the Belfast, South Eastern, Southern and Northern LCG areas.
Today is the final day on which members can complete the Expression of Interest form. These re-established OOH EDCs will be operational from 30 July. In the interim, GDS Correspondence has been issued regarding the Urgent Dental Care Centres and cover for the July holiday period.
15:46
England: Your views on new CQC model
The information gathered by the CQC to ensure dental practices are compliant is changing. The commission want to gather your views to ensure the right evidence is being considered when inspecting and assessing providers.
The new regulatory model will still include the five key questions to ascertain if a service is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. The proposed change will bring new quality-based statements to the heart of the framework.
More information about the proposal is available on the CQC website, along with a video detailing what the system will look like. You can share your thoughts and feedback on the proposals by completing a short survey which is available until 5 July.
15:21
England: Routine asymptomatic testing
Dental staff should still be taking LFTs twice weekly and the results should be reported.
The most recent England CDO's "Dental framework" says that testing should be carried out for staff in line with any national policies, and the current policy is outlined here.
Patient-facing staff should continue to test twice weekly when asymptomatic and if they receive a positive LFD test result, they should follow the isolation advice.
11:07
Wales: Open event for GDPs
We're holding a free online event for GDPs on Monday 4 July 2022, 19:00 to 21:00.
There will be a series of short talks led by the Welsh General Dental Practice contract negotiating team: Russell Gidney, Dan Cook and Ravdeep Johal. Russell, Dan and Ravdeep are all practice owners in Wales.
Aims are to:
- Gather your views on how well the contract offer is working
- Hear from dentists who opted for the default UDA contract
- Hear from dentists who have left NHS provision or are planning to do so
We'll use this information to run a Wales-wide survey over summer, which will help inform a report to the Senedd Health and Social Care Committee in the Autumn.
The talks will be followed by a Q&A session, for which you are encouraged to submit any questions in advance to branchsectionevents@bda.org.
All dentists and dental care professionals are welcome to attend.
09:42
BDJ: Interested in learning more about dental materials?
The BDJ dental materials themed issue explores a wide range of dental materials topics including dental amalgam, glass-ionomer cements and developments in resin-based composites. Offering practical tips, as well as detailed explanations and reviews.
Articles include:
You may also find our collection of dental materials eBooks of interest.
Wednesday 29 June 2022
11:58
BDA Good Practice: our quality assurance scheme
Do you own or work for a dental practice operating in the United Kingdom and want to learn more about BDA Good Practice?
Our quality assurance scheme allows its members to communicate to patients an ongoing commitment to working to standards of good practice on professional and legal responsibilities. Members have access to advice and practice resources, exclusive courses to help grow a confident team, marketing materials to promote your practice, templates to help you engage with your patient base and to obtain positive reviews and much more.
Subscribe to our mailing list, to learn more about the scheme or contact goodpractice@bda.org and someone from the team will get in touch.
Tuesday 28 June 2022
15:23
GDC renewals for Dental Care Professionals
The registration renewals process for Dental Care Professionals (DCPs) is
currently open and will close on 31 July 2022. Members are encouraged to remind their members of staff to renew their registration and ensure they comply with the CPD requirements.
All registrants are required to declare a minimum of 10 hours of verifiable CPD over any two-year period. As an example, this means that any DCP who might have declared two hours in 2021, will be required to declare at least eight hours this year. If this requirement is not fulfilled, registrants risk being taken off the register.
DCPs who reach the end of the current CPD cycle this year will have to make a full declaration (75 hours for dental therapists, dental hygienists, orthodontic therapists or CDTs; 50 verifiable hours for dental nurses and dental technicians). Any individuals who do not have enough hours to fulfil the requirements can make up the missing hours before the end of July.
DCP registrants will also need to pay the annual registration fee and make their indemnity declaration.
15:04
British Dental Conference and Dentistry Show CPD certificatesFor those who attended last month’s British Dental Conference and Dentistry Show, instructions on how to download your CPD certificates will be available shortly.
We have not long received the relevant information from Closer Still Media and are working hard to deliver your CPD certificates to you. Once all information has been processed, we will email you with instructions on how to download your certificates from our CPD Portal. We hope to get these out to you within the next two weeks.
If you have any queries regarding CPD certificates, please send them through to
events@bda.org.
14:42
England: 100% target fanciful but easy choice for ministers
NHS England is now
attempting a return to 'business as usual' for NHS dentistry, with a new 100% activity target - set to be imposed from 1 July - set to offer no flexibility to the thousands of practices struggling to live with Covid.
A 95% target has been in force since 1 April, and we understand delivery in the last quarter fell dramatically at the outset, a reflection of mounting workforce problems. It seems these choices are driven by Treasury diktats, not by the data emerging from the frontline.
While Infection, Prevention and Control guidance has been withdrawn, all practices are continuing to face burdens that lower their capacity, without corresponding support from government. We've stressed that no other UK nation has adopted such an inflexible, punitive approach, which it believes will leave a growing number of NHS practices facing financial penalties for failure to hit targets, further destabilising an already fragile delivery model.
"Imposing fanciful targets is easy for Ministers" Shawn Charlwood, Chair of the British Dental Association's General Dental Practice Committee, said, but "the harder but necessary path demands real reform and fair funding."
13:10
Scotland: Next steps for multiplier revealed
The Scottish Government
have issued a letter updating dental teams on the next steps for the multiplier and long-term contractual reform.
After taking a range of factors into consideration, the government have confirmed that the multiplier will be reduced from 1.7 to 1.3 for the next three months. This may mean that some procedures are no longer financially viable for practices. A review will take place again in advance of the October/paid November schedule.
The Government have also committed to long term reform,
issuing a survey to gather information and your comments on a potential future NHS model. We will keep you informed of any developments with the multiplier and the upcoming reform process.
Monday 27 June 2022
11:21
England & Wales: Associate dentists and employment status
A recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal poses questions on whether associate dentists in England and Wales have some rights, such as rights in relation to protection from discrimination.
An associate bought a claim of unlawful discrimination against Rodericks. Self-employed people can still have protection against discrimination if they are found by the tribunal to be what is known as a “worker”.
This case suggests that associates engaged under some associates agreements are workers and therefore have some rights, including in relation to discrimination. More recent versions of dental associate agreements, including the BDA model and the latest Rodericks associate agreement, guard against such a finding.
We recently conducted workshops with associates and practice owners to gauge their views as to whether the dental community wanted a change in status of associate dentists. The majority felt that their independence as self-employed practitioners was important to them, and they did not want a change in status. We are considering this judgment carefully and will advise members accordingly.
Members should note that these cases are expensive to run and time-consuming to prepare for. Outcomes are far from certain. Costs are not awarded. The best outcomes are where problems are solved by discussion at an early stage. We have a mediation service for members which has been effective at helping parties to reach an agreement.
Associates in Scotland and Northern Ireland are in a different situation, largely because associates in Scotland and Northern Ireland who perform NHS dental services have their own NHS contracts. While it may be less likely a tribunal will find that they are workers, many of the principles in the Rodericks judgment will still apply.
10:37
England: Facemasks no longer mandatory
We can confirm that facemasks are no longer mandatory and that, following a risk assessment, practices should make their own decisions about how and when patients are treated or what PPE is required.
Staff are not required to wear facemasks in non-clinical areas such as reception, offices, or the staff room. Staff may wear a facemask if it is a personal preference or if there are specific issues raised by a risk assessment which require one to be worn. More information is available in our
recent update and our version of the
risk assessment
can be amended to suit your individual practice.
In addition, patients are no longer required to wear a facemask unless it is a personal preference, but patients with respiratory symptoms who attend for treatment should wear a facemask/covering if able to. If you wish to do so, you may offer a mask to patients on arrival.
