“I think the profession is in for a really tough year, especially those in the higher end private sector” page 18


Glasgow professor expresses his concerns for academic research in Scotland Fears for the future RESEARCH


Reduced funding, increased regulations and red tape over- load is stunting vital research, according to one of Scotland’s leading dental academics. In a forthright interview with Scottish Dental magazine, Professor David Wray has expressed his deep and growing concern about the negative impact currently being endured by research in this country. He said: “Today we have a situation where practitioners aren’t allowed to research and researchers aren’t allowed practice. And if researchers want to use patients in their programmes then they have to fill out ridiculously long forms and wait months and months for some ethics committee in Europe to get back to them with an answer. “I’m concerned for the future


for academics as we now have a system that develops teachers rather than researchers; and by not researching we are restricting the career develop- ment of a new generation of dental and medical pioneers.”


Appeals deadline extended


The deadline for dentists to appeal against Practitioner Services Division’s (PSD) decision to withdraw patients’ registrations they have identified as duplicated, deceased or who have emigrated, has been extended. PSD wrote to every GDP in Scotland in October advising that payments for what they


success rather than the intellectual pursuit of knowl- edge that has the potential to make significant breakthroughs in the longer period in scientific advancement. He added: “This type of


regulation has become progressively more invasive and more intrusive in to what people do for a living. “In my opinion, this approach


is too narrow in its focus and does not look at the wider research strategy. “Saying that, there is still


Professor Wray, whose work


is already internationally renowned and respected, has just won the BDA’s John Tomes medal, given to those who have made an outstanding contribution to medical and dental research. Delighted to have received the highest clinical honour that the organisation can bestow, he used the occasion to express his concerns for the future of those who would follow in his footsteps. He told Scottish Dental magazine that he considered the 1960-80s as the “golden


deemed to be invalid registra- tions would cease from 1 September, 2010. This was in response to an exercise con- ducted by the NHS body to match Community Health Index (CHI) numbers to the patient records they hold on their payment system, MIDAS. The exercise threw up a number of inaccuracies but dentists were told they could appeal against specific registra- tions by filling in a DPD295 form and returning it by 21 February. However, early in the New Year the BDA’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee (SDPC)


days” of medical research where he and his colleagues all had the freedom to carry out real “blue sky” thinking. Professor Wray said he


believes the bureaucratic sti- fling of research started with the introduction of the Research Assessment Exercise in 1976 that aimed to audit every bit of research and release funds only to those projects that had an economic outcome. While he can fully appreciate the need for quality control in research funding, he believes the current approach is designed to reward short-term


received reports that many dentists were struggling to meet the deadline due to the adverse weather conditions. Robert Kinloch, chairman of the SDPC, said: “The initial deadline for reviewing the lists sent to dental practices was very tight, particularly because the Christmas and New Year peri- ods fell in the three months that had been allowed. Inclement weather across Scotland in December prevented staff getting to surgeries and further reduced the time available for these checks. Dental practices clearly required an extension.”


great research going on but I am genuinely concerned about the long-term future of research in this country.” In his interview, Professor


Wray also challenged the profession to address what he described as one of its greatest “moral dilemmas”. He said there is now a real


issue in the mind of some observers over where dentists are there to serve the public or make a good living.


® To read the full interview with Professor Wray, turn to page 37.


By the end of January PSD had only received responses pertaining to about 2,000 patient registrations, and Clydebank GDP Tony Coia believes that the lack of responses might not improve despite the deadline having been extended to 31 March. He said: “A lot of dentists simply don’t have the staff or time and they are pretty apathetic about the whole thing. They have enough to be getting on with as per usual during their working day without having to sort through stuff like that.”


Scottish Dental magazine 7


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