Former Health Secretary and Tory party leadership contender, Jeremy Hunt MP, has been elected to the chair of the Commons Health Select Committee. The BDA has sent him a message asking him to “reopen the inquiry into dentistry” which was instituted by his predecessor, Dr Sarah Wollaston, but ended with the general election.
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Dental Protection has told the Government that it is now time to focus on getting UK dental regulation right. Raj Rattan, Dental Director, urged the new Government to move things forward quickly saying: “Few areas of regulation in the UK are more overdue reform than healthcare professional regulation.”
Read more: Dental Protection urges Government to sort out dental regulation
The BDA has passed on advice to primary care practitioners from the Chief Medical Officer on the virus from China. He says that the NHS is ’extremely well-prepared and used to managing infections’ and is ’working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients had, to prevent further spread.’ As of 31 January, there were two confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in England.
The survey for the quarter ending 31st October 2019 has seen a big leap – again – in the goodwill as a percentage of fee income in deals done. This is the fifth quarter in a row that deals have risen – from a low of 122% of gross fees in quarter ending October 2018, to 157% of gross fees in this latest quarter. Alan Suggett, who compiles the goodwill survey, said, “It is clear that in many parts of the country that the practices sales market is still buoyant.”
Read more: NASDAL Goodwill Survey Results – deals done continue to rise
The GDC has announced the arrival of Gordon Matheson CBE as their new Head of Scottish Affairs. He was leader of Glasgow City Council from 2010-15. Elected in 1999, he served as Bailie, Justice of the Peace, Executive Member for Education and City Treasurer. He has led the public affairs and policy functions in Scotland for two major national charities.
Lidl has said it will remove cartoon characters from its own-brand cereals to help parents buy healthy products. It hopes that the rebranded packaging, to be introduced in the spring, will alleviate the pressure of children’s "pester power". Health experts welcomed the move but called for government regulations on "junk food marketing".
Read more: Lidl to remove cartoon characters from own-brand cereals
There were over 14,000 people on the waiting list for an NHS dentist in Plymouth in October 2019, and the number is continuing to increase. The news comes after the BDA revealed back in November that more people in Devon and Cornwall are struggling to access NHS dentists than anywhere else in England. GDPC chair, David Cottam claimed that this was due to a ’perfect storm’ of underfunding, failed contracts and recruitment problems.
Read more: NHS dentist access problems hit the South West of England
Speaking in a House of Commons debate, dentist Sir Paul Beresford MP said that water fluoridation was ‘by far and away the best-proven method to reduce tooth decay among children, and even more so among adults, is fluoridation of the water supply’. He said one problem it is left for local authorities ‘to instigate and compel companies to fluoridate their water supplies’.
Read more: Sir Paul Beresford backs water fluoridation in Parliament
The free Brush DJ app, which uses music to engage and motivate users users to have an effective oral hygiene routine has kicked off 2020 by receiving its 400,000th download. The app has also reached people in 204 countries and remains the only dental app in the NHS App Library. Founder Ben Underwood said ‘this fantastic milestone would not have been possible without all the people who have helped build, test and champion the app.’
Read more: Brush DJ app hits 400,000 downloads in 204 countries