The year ahead
GERARD BOYLE GDP, GLASGOW
Q How will the dental landscape change in 2011? More bad news, I reckon. There will be pension changes, withdrawal/capping of NHS allowances, all of which would push more GDPs into the private sector.
Q What would
change/improve your professional life? Please can we have less bureaucracy? The last thing the profession needs is more
regulation (revalidation, Care Commission, etc.) getting in the way of our day-to-day ability to deliver care to our patients.
Q What will give you sleepless nights? The prospect of draconian changes to the NHS pension system, (particularly the possibili- ty that we may be working until 65) after the final instalment of the Hutton Report in March 2011.
Q What would get you crack- ing the champagne open? A 20 per cent rise in the NHS fees.
I also believe in Santa Claus.
Q Who’s the ‘player’ to watch this year? Richard Simpson MSP, part of Scottish Labour’s public health team, who could well replace his SNP counterpart Shona Robison in Government after the election in May. He is a qualified medical practitioner and should therefore be expected to be familiar with his brief.
Q What’s your New Year’s resolution?
More work, less ranting.
MARGIE TAYLOR, SCOTLAND’S CHIEF DENTAL OFFICER
Q What are the major challenges you face in 2011? We need to address inequalities in oral care. It is unacceptable that in modern Scotland the poorest in our society and those in remote and rural areas still suffer from unaccept- able inequalities in health. We also want to ensure that those
who suffer from a physical or mental condition that affects their dental treatment are receiving the care that they need. The Healthcare Quality Strategy sets out the overall direction and focus for the NHS over the coming years. The aim is for the NHS to provide the highest quality health- care to the people of Scotland. The Quality Strategy has helped
focus our attention on what makes a ‘quality dental practice’ and we are going to be engaging with the profession in 2011 to ensure they get an opportunity to help define this clearly.
Q How will you meet these challenges and how will they be prioritised? Improving oral health is obviously a top priority for the Scottish Government.
20 Scottish Dental magazine
Work to address inequalities is
already well underway and paying dividends. Heath boards have been developing programmes for priority groups and have started to implement these. Targeting children in the most
deprived areas, the Childsmile School programme will deliver a range of preventative care interventions for children in pri- mary one and two to reduce the risk of dental decay. The most recent National Dental Inspection Programme reports have shown that children’s oral health has never been better. Now 64 per cent of P7s and 62 per cent of P1s have no sign of tooth decay – a huge improvement on recent years. It is fantastic to be able to say that our primary school children now have the best oral health since our records began. Thanks to work already underway to ensure that children know the importance of dental care at the earliest age, Scotland’s children are now primed to have a lifetime of good oral health. Our latest figures show there are
record numbers of dentists working in NHS Scotland and this has resulted in more people being able to access an NHS dentist. Between 1995 and 2009 the stock of dentists has increased by almost 41 per cent. We now have outreach training
centres in place throughout Scotland including Aberdeen, Inverness and Dumfries and Galloway. We are continuing to increasing the number
“It is fantastic to be able to say that our primary school children now have the best oral health since our records
began” CDO Margie Taylor
of dental students in training – the dental school in Aberdeen is train- ing 20 dentists every year. With increased access to dentists
we will expect to see improvements in oral health. I want to see all of this good work continue in 2011.
Q How will you be looking to the profession to meet your objectives?
I am pleased to say that the profession have been engaging in the Childsmile Practice programme and have contributed to the improvement in oral health. The Childsmile Practice
programme is designed to improve the oral health of children in Scotland from birth by working closely with dental practices. It is being developed to provide a universally accessible child-centred NHS dental service. It is carried out through a network of primary care dental service providers involving both independ- ent contractors and salaried services. All of the Childsmile strands – including Practice – are due to be rolled out in every heath board area in 2011, so I would like to see the profession continue to be involved.
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