This is not a fairy tale. It is a story of two dentists, two similar charges, two dental regulators, and two very different outcomes. The regulators happen to be separated by the Irish Sea.
No commentsRead more: Goldilocks, the Three Bears, and Dental Regulation
There will always be a section of the public with an unerring instinct to seek out the most doubtful providers for their dental care. Whitening by beauticians, orthodontics from Smile Direct, and of course the excesses of “Turkey teeth” have all found eager customers.
The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD) has announced the winners of its Outstanding Innovation Award for 2024.
In a story based upon its own analysis, the Financial Times has concluded that £150 million of the dental budget remains unspent and that it was also experiencing a “recruitment crisis.” That such a respected paper, a UK go-to for all matters economic, has published a story explaining to its influential readers the woes of NHS dentistry, confirms that awareness of the crisis is not restricted to dental teams and patients unable to find treatment. The paper goes on to describe the shortcomings of the NHS dental contract, describing it as “broken".
Announcing their much awaited Dental Recovery Plan (DRP) earlier this year, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins together with the Minister with responsibility for Primary Care Andrea Leadsom positively enthused about the role dental vans were going to play in delivering dental services to remote country and coastal locations.
“Transparency is important to building trust.”
This is hardly a controversial opinion, and was written by Stefan Czerniawski, GDC Executive Director, Strategy who is responsible amongst other roles, for communications and engagement. He wrote this sentence in a blog on the GDC website in late March 2024. It has taken the GDC no more than a month to show that these were empty words.
GDP’s have always prided themselves on getting things done. If any evidence was needed, whilst it took NHS England 10 months to appoint a new Chief Dental Officer, the College of General Dentistry have appointed their new President in a fraction of that time.
GDPUK has recently reported upon a questionable Fitness to Practice (FTP) case where the GDC appeared determined to press on, seeking the very serious dishonesty finding over a single remark - see this story which is expanded on here - . It turns out that this is not the first controversial FTP investigation that this registrant has been subjected to.
Practice Plan is celebrating the promotion of its former Managing Director to the Board of parent company, Wesleyan, as part of an updated Group Executive team aimed at supporting the next phase of its ambitious growth strategy.
Read more: Practice Plan senior management part of new-look top team at Wesleyan