Recent reports of the scale of challenges facing the British Dental Association (BDA) are misleading, the organisation has said.

 

Chief Executive Peter Ward and Principal Executive Committee Chair Martin Fallowfield have been setting the record straight in blogs for the BDA’s Communities website. The blogs reiterate the background to changes to the BDA’s membership structure implemented earlier this year, detail how the changes were made and explain how the Association is re-shaping itself to ensure it delivers the services members demand.

BDA Chief Executive Peter Ward said:

 

“A small number of reports in third party media have suggested that the BDA is facing challenges of a far more significant scale than is actually the case. We would like to set the record straight and assure dentists that their Association is safe and secure.

 

“Earlier this year, following extensive research, we implemented changes to the BDA’s membership structure. Those changes recognised that the profession had changed and that its Association needed to change with it. For the first time in the Association’s 133-year history, members can choose from a range of membership packages.

 

“As a result of those changes we are re-shaping the BDA to ensure the services we provide satisfy the choices members have made with their purchasing decisions. Inevitably, a change of such scale has meant some difficult decisions; in the BDA’s case, staffing changes to ensure that resources are deployed to meet members’ needs. It’s also meant an evaluation of the funding structure of the Association. We have dealt with those issues and are restructuring the business so that it is on a sound, sustainable footing, as the publication of the final budget later this month will demonstrate.

 

“We appreciate that changes of the magnitude that we have implemented this year can cause anxiety and apologise for any concern that has been caused. Members can be assured that the BDA has acted swiftly and sensibly to analyse the implications of the out-turn and that a sustainable future in which services are protected is being secured.”