New GDPC Member for South West Wales

Tom Bysouth has been elected the GDPC member for South West Wales for the new triennium from 2015 to 2018.

Tom has posted the following message:

Dear All

 Following the recent BDA elections I have been elected to succeed Roger on GDPC.

 For those people who don’t know me I qualified from Cardiff in 2009 and presently work as an associate in Llandovery and Llandeilo, having previously held associate positions in Swansea and Aberdare. I have been active within the Young Dentist Committee of the BDA for several years and have previously attended LDC meetings for both Bro Taf and Bro Morgannwg.

 My aim is to ensure that the views of general practitioners are heard and where possible will attempt to be present at LDC meetings. I appreciate there may be times where I am unable to attend to hear your views in person, in these instances I am more than happy to communicate via email. Indeed given our geography email represents our best line of communication.

 I shall provide reports of GDPC and will canvas your views on proposed changes. Outside of these please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any issues you wish to be raised at GDPC.

 Thanks

 Tom Bysouth

Tombysouth@hotmail.co.uk

Ebola Guidance for Dentists in Wales

Public Health Wales has published guidance on identifying and treating suspected Ebola patients.  It can be accessed here.

Oral Health Management of Patients taking Bisphosphonates – Local Guidance

Guidance on the Oral Health Management on Patients taking Bisphosphonate therapy has been published  and approved by ABMU LHB.

This guidance can be accessed here .

Inherited Bleeding Disorders – Review of Protocols

The referral pathway, dentist information leaflet and patient information leaflet for patients with Inherited Bleeding Disorders have been revised.

The referral pathway can be accessed here.

The dentist information leaflet can be accessed here.

The patient information leaflet (it is recommended you download and print for patients) can be accessed here.

WG Advisory Structure Review

LDC members will recall the call for evidence from WG earlier in the year to which we responded in March.  The call for evidence document and Morgannwg LDC response can be accessed here.

The initial response from WG has now been published and can be found at

http://wales.gov.uk/topics/health/cmo/committees/advisory-structure-review/?lang=en

Our reading of this is that LDCs will continue to be a statutory advice body locally, at least for the time being, but that the Welsh Dental Committee might be incorporated into a single Joint Professional Council,  but an oral health group would be established as a sub group of the council – it’s ToR would be different to WDC and also its membership.  We understand there is to be further clarification and opportunity to comment.  We will ensure that this is an agenda item at the next LDC meeting and will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed – it is imperative that we use any opportunity to comment further on this issue.

2014-2015 BASCD 5 year old Dental Survey

Between October 2014 and April 2015, a dental survey of 5 year old   (Year 1) children will take place in schools throughout Swansea, Neath-Port Talbot and Bridgend.

This is part of an All Wales Dental Health Survey.  All examining dentists are specially trained so that they record what they see in the same way.  This means that statistics for one area can be compared directly with those for other areas. The information gained from this survey will give an indication of the dental health of 5 year old children in Wales and it will be used to help plan effective dental services where they are most needed.

Children will only be examined if they are happy to be seen and after receipt of written parental consent. Parents will be told in advance when the CDS will be visiting the selected schools. Latex free gloves and sterile instruments are used for all examinations. The examination is visual and only takes a few minutes. A questionnaire about the child’s previous dental treatment will also be sent home. All children involved in the survey will be sent more detailed information, including contact details if parents have any questions, before the school is visited.

The information gained is used for statistical purposes only and there is no way of identifying individual children by their records after they have been seen.

This survey will provide very useful information for the future. It is hoped that all children involved in this survey enjoy the experience.

If anyone wishes to have further information on the study protocol please contact Janine Thomas at Janine.Thomas2@wales.nhs.uk

NHS Dental Services Update April 2014

Provided by the NHS Business Services Authority and containing information on NHS Dental Services moving away from paper, referral for advanced mandatory services, the two month rule and other updates

Please access the update here

Success of Flexible Post-Graduate Educational Programme in Endodontics

The Department of Restorative Dentistry has now run its collaborative post-graduate Certificate course in Endodontics successfully for the second year. The course, designed from its infancy at a Diploma-level, was a collaboration between ABMU Health Board, the University of South Wales (previously Glamorgan), and the Wales Deanery (Dental Postgraduate Department). The initial year-long certificate programme is aimed at improving the knowledge and clinical skills of dentists in the specialty of Endodontics, while continuing to work within their own clinical environments. Dentists are also able to continue their training to either Diploma (2 year) or Masters level (3 years). 

The certificate level course comprises 6 didactic days of lectures and training in the clinical skills lab with dental operating microscopes (Morriston Hospital). Once the didactic element is completed, dentists have 6 individual days of patient treatment of suitable complexity under close supervision of local Consultants and specialists. This enables them to benefit from work-based learning in the state of the art facility located at the Port Talbot Resource Centre. Candidates are also required to review seminal and contemporary endodontic literature and complete several case reports and written assignments over the first 12 months. Those continuing to the second ‘Diploma’ year undertake a practice-based clinical case portfolio

There is also a close collaborative link with primary care, as the supervised treatment sessions are based at the Dental training unit at the Port Talbot Resource Centre. This allows networking between primary care and hospital services.

The course tutors and the Department are indebted for the support from Wales Deanery (Dental Postgraduate) and to the dental nurses from both ABMU Restorative Dentistry and the Dental Training Unit for their dedication and support to the course as well as the continued support from ABMU.

For more information, contact

Dr Matthew Locke, Consultant in Restorative Dentistry and Course Tutor: matthew.locke@wales.nhs.uk (Clinical Elements and Logistics of the Course)

Mrs Paola Browne: paola.browne@wales.nhs.uk (administrative queries)

Dental Contract Breaches and Remedial Notices

LDC Officers thought it would be useful to include the following, written on behalf of ABMU Health Board, on the website for the information of all colleagues:

ABMU Health Board in accordance with The National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) (Wales) Regulations 2009 and The National Health Service (Personal Dental Services Agreements) (Wales) Regulations 2009, can issue a remedial notice where the Health Board is of the opinion that the contractor has breached their contract. Whilst this is an action that is infrequently triggered the Health Board considered it to be important to remind dental contractors of the process.
Using The National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) (Wales) Regulations 2009 as an example; Part 6, Schedule 3, Part 9, Paragraph’s 73 and 74 sets out the action that the Health Board must take when they consider that a contract breach has occurred.
It is important to note that the Health Board must give a minimum of 28 days from the date the notice is given for the breach to be remedied. If however the Health Board is satisfied that the contractor has not taken the necessary steps required to remedy the breach by the end of the notice period then the Health Board may then terminate the contract with effect from a specified date (Paragraph 73 (4)). This is not an action that the Health Board would consider lightly and therefore we would prefer to work with dental contractors where a breach has occurred to ensure that a satisfactory remedy can be achieved.

Links to Latest WG Dental Statistics

GDS  NHS dental services, April to June 2013

CDS  Community dental services, 2012-13