Friday 11 September 2020
21:00
New video round-up
It's been a few weeks since my last round up of dentistry news across the UK. So here's a summary of what's been happening over the summer.
Useful links from the video:
14:30
Northern Ireland: lobbying for additional support for mixed/private-practices
An important motion to highlight the plight of businesses that have failed to access government support will be debated in the Assembly on Tuesday next week. Over the past five months we have been persistent in lobbying the NI Executive for additional support for mixed/private-practices in relation to private earnings.
John Stewart MLA is calling on the Economy Minister to establish a new fit for purpose business hardship fund for those businesses and individuals who have so far been excluded from accessing any financial support. We have asked that the plight of mixed/private dentistry is mentioned in Mr Stewart MLA’s opening remarks.
Today we have emailed all Northern Ireland members asking those with a significant share of their income from private work, to
write to their MLAs before Tuesday and share their experiences.
13:20
MPs join call for targeted Furlough extension
Parliament's Treasury Committee has published its second report on the
Economic impact of coronavirus: the challenges of recovery.
Over the summer we set out
our case to MPs on the changes needed to support this service, and we welcome that they've backed targeted extensions to the Coronavirus Job Retention (or furlough) Scheme.
Furlough is one of the few lifelines nearly all practices have benefited from.
Up to 80 per cent of practices have made use of the scheme to cover staff in proportion to their private work. And with the service still running at such limited capacity, a 'one size fits all' approach to phase down will hit practices, as well as colleagues in the laboratory sector.
We have already
urged the Chancellor to set out his response on furlough extension and other key recommendations set out in
a recent report on the resilience of dental practices.
12:15
New blog: Diversity equality and PPE
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, aerosol-generating procedures have required fit-tested level three PPE. However, for Dr Singh, a Sikh dental surgeon from Suffolk, passing the fit test proved impossible - despite having passed the exercises. The reason for this result came down to his beard and turban, which according to the guidance, interfere with the border of the masks and hence reduce their efficacy.
Since then Dr Sing has been road testing alternative protective equipment, namely various PAPR hoods which he hoped would provide the solution that dentists, particularly Sikh dentists, need. However, unfortunately this is not to be.
In his blog, Dr Singh discusses his experience with PAPR hoods and outlines the five issues that he believes far outweigh any benefits for dental professionals.
Read
Coronavirus: Why PAPR hoods are not the solution Sikh dentists need.
11:20
Northern Ireland: CDO confirms new restrictions should not constrain dental practices
The acting CDO for Northern Ireland, Michael Donaldson, has emailed practices to clarify the latest information regarding localised restrictions as announced by the Government last night. In his email, Mr Donaldson confirmed:
"The localised restrictions announced this evening
do not introduce any additional constraints on dental practices. Practices should operate tomorrow as they have been recently and continue to follow the Northern Ireland dental operational guidance carefully."
We will continue to update you with any progress and developments.
Thursday 10 September 2020
15:30
Webinar: COVID's impact on landlords and tenants
Tonight, our new webinar will help commercial landlords and tenants understand how to tackle any commercial letting problems they are facing during the pandemic.
Sign up to
become familiar with the guidance and tools commercial tenants and landlords can use to effectively tackle problems arising during the pandemic. You will also receive an update on current government guidance in regard to commercial lettings.
Date: Thursday 10 September
Time: 19:30 - 20:30
The webinar is free for BDA members (please login and register in advance to reserve your place).
Non-members or Dental Care Professionals can call our events team to book your place for £50 and £30 respectively, on 020 7563 4590 (open Monday to Friday 09:00-17:00).
12:45
England: Further update on NHS contracts
It is now almost two months since NHS England set out the
current contractual arrangements for general dental practice in England.
As that letter made clear, further work was to take place with the BDA to develop the contractual framework for the rest of this financial year. This should reflect the gradually increasing activity levels, whilst also recognising continuing constrained capacity due to infection prevention and control guidance and ongoing social distancing requirements.
There has been some anticipation that any revised arrangements would begin half way through the current financial year (i.e. from the beginning of October) and we have had queries as to when there would be clarification about changes.
We wanted to update that discussions between the BDA and NHS England are ongoing. We know that practices and dentists will want to have reasonable notice and clear advice about any changes and we will seek to ensure that practices get time to prepare. We will update further when there is more to share.
In the meantime, practices are reminded that the current requirement to deliver 20% volume of care in order to receive full contractual payment is not a minimum, it is a threshold. Practices must continue to spend the same amount of time seeing NHS patients as prior to the pandemic. Levels of NHS care will continue to be monitored via returns to NHS BSA.
12:20
Free coaching support for NHS dentists and teams in England
Dentists and their teams working under an NHS contract in primary care in England can now access a
coaching service run by NHS England and NHS Improvement, which aims to support frontline staff's wellbeing during the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Available seven days a week, staff can book a slot with experienced coaches at a date and time that suits them.
The offer provides staff in clinical and non-clinical roles across primary care the opportunity to process their experiences, develop coping skills, deal with difficult conversations and develop strategies for self-management in challenging circumstances.
Coaching sessions will continue throughout the COVID-19 pandemic until at least March 2021.
The support is provided independently of your employer, and your employer will not be notified that you are accessing this service, unless you choose to tell them.
Wednesday 9 September 2020
09:50
Scotland: Message to PDS about revalidated PPE
We have written to Public Dental Service colleagues about the consternation that our recent press release regarding out-of-date respirator masks has caused. We acknowledge that communication and engagement with the PDS could and should have been better, and have apologised for any anxiety our press release inadvertently caused.
We recognise that PDS dentists and redeployed GDPs have been using enhanced PPE in the UDCCs for several months, and the letter of comfort from the CNO and previous CMO in March aimed to reassure clinicians that the expired PPE was safe to use. This was accepted in good faith by us and others.
This issue of expired PPE without seemingly robust verification only recently came to light, when GDPs started receiving boxes of 3M 1863 masks to allow them to carry out aerosol-generating procedures in practices. Some of these masks dated back to 2001 and had expiry dates going back to 2012. Over the past three weeks, we have repeatedly sought firm evidence from NSS that expired masks have been robustly assessed and are safe to use.
The information we received from NSS included a copy of the
test certificate for 3M 1863 masks. However, the certificate does not provide categorical proof that these masks are fit for purpose as none of the measures in the certificate achieved a “pass”. For those measures which received limited approval, the certificate states that the manufacturer (3M) should verify the material but 3M has confirmed to us that they have not assessed these masks since their manufacture. 3M has also advised that respirator masks should not be used once they have passed their expiry date, as they may have degraded to the point where they would no longer perform to the standard to which they were originally certified.
As the trade union for dentists, we felt compelled to highlight this issue in the interests of the safety of dentists, their teams and patients. While we remain concerned about the equivocal nature of the evidence supporting the safety of expired masks, given that PDS dentists and redeployed GDPs have been using these masks without any reported issues for several months, we recommend that dentists carry out their own risk assessment and act accordingly.
Tuesday 8 September 2020
16:55
Side agreements for associates in England and Wales
We have produced side agreements to help practice owners and associates in England and Wales adapt their pre-coronavirus commercial arrangements to the current situation.
This agreement suspends the operation of UDAs and requires both parties to adhere to guidance from NHS England and the Health Board in Wales. This includes guidance on pay and requirements for providing dental services.
The side agreements are designed to complement the BDA written associate agreements.
14:10
Wales: CDO responds to local lockdown
The CDO for Wales, Colette Bridgman has issued a statement on local lockdown protocol for Wales, after Wales' first local lockdown in Caerphilly commenced today.
In her statement Dr Bridgman reiterated the fact that Wales remains in amber alert and consequently certain requirements still hold. These are:
- Social distancing
- Symptom & CV19 risk pre-appointment check
- Facial masks
- Enhanced PPE
- Fallow time as advised in the SOP for aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs). This is one hour or 20 mins if ventilation is at optimal 10 air changes per hour.
- 10 minutes for cleaning and disinfecting of surgeries following non-AGP treatment.
Dr Bridgman went on to say that practices can oscillate between high and low amber based on local circumstances. In order to observe travel restrictions and local lockdown, practices need to concentrate on urgent and essential care and not invite patients to travel in or out of local lockdown area for routine care and assessment that can be delayed.
People can travel to and from local lockdown area for essential reasons i.e. to go to work and or attend essential healthcare appointments.
Monday 7 September 2020
15:00
Webinar: COVID’s impact on landlords and tenants
On Thursday, our new webinar will help commercial landlords and tenants understand how to tackle any commercial letting problems they are facing during the pandemic.
Sign up to become familiar with the guidance and tools commercial tenants and landlords can use to effectively tackle problems arising during the pandemic. You will also receive an update on current government guidance in regard to commercial lettings.
Date: Thursday 10 September
Time: 19:30 - 20:30
The webinar is free for BDA members (please login and register in advance to reserve your place).
Non-members or Dental Care Professionals can call our events team to book your place for £50 and £30 respectively, on 020 7563 4590 (open Monday to Friday 09:00-17:00).
12:05
Wales: Making your voice heard on the issues that matter
We've raised your concerns to the Senedd Health Select Committee and we’ve canvassed MPs and MSs for support. As a result, there has been a re-instatement of the Trainer Grant to Educational Supervisors in Dental Foundation Training to 100%.
In his recent blog, Tom Bysouth, Chair of the Welsh General Dental Practice Committee tells us
how BDA Wales are making dentists’ voices heard and why it’s important for us all to stand together.
11:45
Public Health England scrapped: What next for oral health?
Last month the Government announced its decision to replace Public Health England with the National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP). England’s pandemic response is understood to be the reason for this change and the NIHP’s mission is to protect people from threats to public health.
Is the abolition of PHE a threat to oral health? That’s the question Dr Robert Witton, Chair of the Dental Public Health Committee,
tackles in his recent blog. In it he discusses what these changes might mean for dentistry and calls for oral health not to be considered an optional extra.
