News Roundup

Welcome to our News Roundup

A digest of news reports and press comment specifically selected for Dental Practice Managers

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PLEASE NOTE THAT FPM HAS MOVED
The FPM office has moved to Leeds and from Monday 28th June our new address is:

First Practice Management
PO Box 172
LEEDS
LS9 1BJ

New Telephone number: 0845 160 3969

All enquiries, remittances and other correspondence should now be sent to the new address.

________________________________________________________

Headlines w/c 19th July 2010

Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS
Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley has set out the Government's ambitious plans to reform the NHS during this Parliament and for the long-term. The White Paper ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’ details how power will be devolved from Whitehall to patients and professionals.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/
@dh/@en/@ps/documents/digitalasset/dh_117352.pdf

BDA response to healthcare white paper
The BDA response to the White Paper Equity & Excellence - Liberating the NHS can be found at:
http://www.bda.org/news-centre/press-releases/
27592-bda-response-to-healthcare-white-paper.aspx

GP consortia and dental commissioning
The white paper for England, issued by Andrew Lansley, secretary of state for health, confirms that the new GP consortia will not commission NHS dental services - this will be the responsibility of the NHS Commissioning Board, due to be formed in April 2011. Further follow up implementation papers are due to be released shortly, including details about how community and hospital dental services are likely to be affected.

Annual declarations for superannuation for 2009-10
The deadline for completing the annual declaration of net pensionable earnings is 31st July 2010 for GDPs in England and Wales. It is a contractual requirement for contractors to complete this declaration and is detailed in the Statement of Financial Entitlement under paragraph 4.21. The NHS Business Services Authority has produced detailed guidance and a FAQ guide which you can find at:
http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Documents/DentalServices/
Guidance_for_the_completion_of_net_pensionable_earnings_declaration_2009_2010.pdf

Fresh push for dental care professionals to come forward
Dental care professionals are the focus of attention as the General Dental Council (GDC) recruits new Fitness to Practise panel members. They have until 3 September to apply for the roles, which are central to the GDC’s work in protecting patients.
http://www.gdc-uk.org/News+publications+and+events/
News+releases/Fresh+push+for+dental+care+professionals+to+come+forward.htm

New GDC consultation launched on ethical advertising
The General Dental Council (GDC) is running a consultation for dental professionals, other healthcare professionals and members of the public to canvass views on the draft version of a guidance document about advertising. A number of issues are addressed, including:

The use of specialist titles
Advertising the provision of dental appliances
What information should be on dental professionals' websites

Ultimately the GDC wants to make sure that all information or publicity material such as flyers or adverts about dental services is legal, decent, honest and truthful. To take part, please see www.gdc-uk.org

The closing date is 1 October 2010.

Headlines w/c 28th June 2010

Annual retention fee reminder
The GDC is reminding all dental care professionals that they need to pay their annual retention fee by 31 July in order to remain on the register.
The cost is £96 for dental nurses, dental technicians, dental therapists, dental hygienists, clinical dental technicians and orthodontic therapists. For more details see the GDC website.
http://www.gdc-uk.org/Current+registrant/Annual+retention+fees/

Pay award is unrealistic, says BDA Northern Ireland
The BDA's leaders in Northern Ireland have branded the announcement on the funding of health service for dentistry in Northern Ireland as ‘unrealistic'. The Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety's (DHSSPS) confirmation of a pay award which produces no increase to net earnings for high street dentists and minimal uplift to practice expenses has confounded the profession.
http://www.dentistry.co.uk/news/news_detail.php
?id=2909&e=Pay-award-is-unrealistic,-says-BDA-Northern-Ireland

Headlines w/c 21st June 2010

Vetting and Barring scheme to be reviewed
The General Dental Council is promising to keep registrants up to date after a Government scheme aimed at protecting children and vulnerable adults was put under review.
It was announced last year that from July 2010 any dental professionals who were changing jobs or starting work for the first time would need to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) and that by 2015 all dental professionals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland would need to be registered. This registration has now been stopped.
http://www.gdc-uk.org/News+publications+and+events/
News+releases/Vetting+and+Barring+scheme+to+be+reviewed.htm

Headlines w/c 14th June 2010

Fitness to practise recruitment site goes live
A special website aimed at recruiting 50 new Fitness to Practise (FtP) panel members to the General Dental Council (GDC) has now gone live. Dental professionals are being encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to play a key role in the GDC's work in protecting patients.
The website is at http://www.gdcpanellists.com/

Headlines w/c 7th June 2010

New Government confirms it will look at NHS dentistry reforms
Earl Howe, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health with responsibility for dentistry, has confirmed that the Government will review the details of the “system we have inherited.” He also confirmed the Government’s proposed reforms will be announced once they have talked to the profession and patient groups.
http://www.bda.org/news-centre/parliamentary-bulletins/
27038-new-government-confirms-it-will-look-at-nhs-dentistry-reforms.aspx

Issued by First Practice Management
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News Roundup uses third party information and links to third-party websites, but neither endorses nor can guarantee the accuracy or authenticity of these sources.