BDA Dispatches p21 | GDC Dispatches p23 | Practice profile p41 |
Is the system designed to fail?
BDA’s Scottish leader pours scorn on the Practitioner Services Division’s problems with prior approval system
The BDA’s national director for Scotland has written to The Herald to express her concern at the strain under which the prior approval system is operating. Pat Kilpatrick highlighted the fact that
Practitioner Services Division (PSD) is struggling to meet its own internal perfor- mance targets, with only 60 per cent of all prior approval requests being processed within the designated 20 days. In the letter she wrote: “Is the current
system designed to fail? “In managing the high volume of
approvals submitted by practitioners across Scotland – that was reported by PSD at 39,877 in 20ı2/ı3 – a key issue has to be whether the threshold for approval is appropriate given the increased costs
of dental treatment and the increase in treatment fees.” With the threshold for prior approval
increasing only very marginally over the last ı2 years, she argued that the net effect of the uplift in fees (2.5ı per cent in 20ı3/ı4 and ı.7 per cent in 20ı4/ı5) has been to “tip the prior approval process over the edge, leaving many dentists to face angry and distressed patients anxious to progress with their treatment”. She continued by saying: “Is increasing
the threshold and reducing the volume of prior approvals too obvious a solution for the Scottish Government? “In reviewing any process design,
a key question is: are there sufficient resources in the system? There are
Where was the Bill in the Queen’s Speech?
The General Dental Council accuses Westminster Government of failing to deliver on promises over lack of Bill on professional regulation
LEGISLATION
The General Dental Council (GDC) has expressed its disappointment at the lack of a Bill to reform the legisla- tion governing the health professional regulator in the Queen’s Speech. In a statement, the regulator said: “Despite having pledged to legislate at the earliest opportunity, the Government has failed to deliver on its promise. “While the GDC continues to strive to be an effective and efficient regulator, our ability to protect p a tients
and deal with
complaints is currently hampered
by antiquated legislation. The Law Commission has drafted a Bill to reform the health regulation system in the UK, but it is now expected that this Bill will not be introduced to Parliament until after the election and, even then, its fate is uncertain. This will significantly delay improvements necessary to ensure patient safety. “We have been urging Government for
the last three years to implement specific changes aimed at improving our ability to protect patients and reduce our costs. “One significant change on its own
would enable us to save up to £2 million a year – a cost that must be borne by the dental profession. “We are urging the Government to
bring forward a Section 60 order to make some key changes to improve our ability to protect the public.”
undoubtedly either insufficient dental adviser sessions available to process the claims or the process is overly complex.” Kilpatrick went on to criticise the PSD
for creating “bottleneck in the system which Scottish Government is unwilling to acknowledge or to address”.
® To read the letter in full, visit www.
heraldscotland.com/comment/letters/there- are-major-problems-with-the-system-for- approving-dental-treatment.24301014
best in the UK Dundee Dental School has been named top dental school in the UK in the Guardian’s annual University Guide, replacing last year’s leaders Glasgow, which slips to sixth place. Dundee, placed fifth in last year’s list, was ranked ahead of Queen Mary in second place, Queen’s University Belfast in third and Aberdeen in fourth place.
Dundee ranked
Aberdeen, which was placed second in the 2014 list, was placed just above Kings College London in fifth. A spokesman for Dundee Dental School said the league table was “a fantastic accolade that reflects the overall commitment of our staff and students in making this a very special place to study dentistry”. The Guardian University Guide judges institutions in nine categories, including course satisfaction, teaching satisfaction, student to staff ratio, spend per student and number of students with a career after six months.
Scottish Dental magazine 7
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