Profession Now Faces “Real Uncertainty” After PM’s COVID Announcement
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- Published: Tuesday, 22 February 2022 07:36
- Written by Chris Tapper
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The British Dental Association has said that “Dentists now face real uncertainty” following Boris Johnson’s announcement in the Commons yesterday that COVID laws and free mass testing are to be swept away across England.
BDA News said “The government’s announcement of the end to almost all remaining pandemic restrictions for the public has left dentists and their teams with little clue as to how they will work in the days and weeks ahead.”
The Prime Minister said that the population should take “Personal responsibility” for COVID in future, rather than the Government setting restrictions in order to control it.
A tweet by the BDA yesterday afternoon said that “Clinical guidelines remain predicated on LFTs (Lateral Flow Tests).”
“The Prime Minister has stated that it is now for the NHS to ‘Determine themselves’ what testing is provided free. That ambiguity leaves thousands of colleagues working to Standard Operating Procedures predicated on routine lateral flow tests facing real uncertainty,” the BDA News website reported.
“Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, had pushed for £5bn to £6bn to fund more community testing and surveillance studies, but failed. After last-minute wrangles that delayed a cabinet meeting by more than two hours, additional funding will now have to be found from his own department’s budget,” The Guardian reported.
BDA News said “While free testing has been pledged for staff in social care, similar guarantees are conspicuous by their absence for the whole healthcare workforce. There is real inconsistency here when it comes to protecting vulnerable patients - one minute enforcing mandatory vaccination, the next ending universal free testing for healthcare professionals.”
The BDA warned ‘Certainly, if this service is going to ’learn to live with COVID’ it cannot begin with further cuts to frontline services.’
Chief Medical Officer, Sir Chris Whitty, and the Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, struck a more cautious note. They urged people to keep taking precautions such as isolating and wearing masks while infections remain high, The Guardian reported.
BDA Chief Executive Martin Woodrow said on Twitter that the situation “Needs sorting out quickly. Uncertainty about standard operating procedure and relationship with testing. Will free testing remain in healthcare? Treasury seems to have said NHS England needs to find the money if they want it to carry on.”
The BDA announced on the BDA News website that it had already “Sought clarity on these pressing issues.”
Chair of the BDA General Dental Practice Committee Associates Group, Dr Sarah Canavan said it “Seems pointless ringing patients to ask if they’ve tested positive for or if they’re self-isolating when they won’t be testing or self-isolating!”
Dr Charlotte Waite, Chair of the BDA’s England Dental Services Committee said on Twitter “In relation to elective general anaesthetic procedures, clarity will be needed around pre-operative COVID testing, the requirements around shielding and lateral flow testing requirements for carers and parents.”
GDP and BDA Board Member Dr Paul Woodhouse tweeted a blunt message to Health Minister Maria Caulfield. He said “Looks like your brief just got harder again. There will be no new money for dentistry now. Even if all the clawback and abatement is put back in, it ain’t gonna work.”
Almost prophetically, the BDA’s GDPC Chair Dr Shawn Charlwood wrote in his Twitter feed on 22nd December “It’s the wrong choice at the wrong time. We face a tidal wave of infection. Dentists are nervous about easing restrictions, & patients are already cancelling in droves.”
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