Letters to the Editor

05 March 2013
Volume 29 · Issue 3

Dear Sir,

I noted the comments in last month’s Apolline with interest. Your anonymous columnist was concerned that Denplan had failed to provide professional leadership for private practice in the face of on-going challenges from the NHS.

I believe that over the years, Denplan has done a huge amount to both inspire and inform the profession, both after the disaster that was the 1990 ‘new’ contract and the years of managed financial decline that followed, and also in advance of – and since – the 2006 contract which even its protagonists now admit has failed. We continue to provide information and quality support, and to encourage training and development, to over 7,000 dentists throughout the UK.

Denplan was constituted not as a professional representative body, but as a means to offer support and services to its member dentists and to facilitate the provision of preventively-based quality private dental care for their patients.

We will continue to advise and promote our values to our membership and to those who wish to transition successfully to private dental care, whilst the NHS looks to develop those principles of ‘registration, capitation and quality’ on which Denplan has been based for over 26 years.

Roger Matthews, chief dental officer at Denplan.

 

Dear Sir,

I read with interest the ‘Apolline’ article that appeared in the February issue of The Dentist, and as chairman of DPAS I would like to clarify our position in the face of particular comments made in the piece.

The article calls on dentists to take control of their own destiny and not rely on external organisations which, according to the author, are failing to lead the profession in any meaningful fashion. The article is critical of a number of dental bodies, and dental plan providers come in for particular reproach.

I would like to correct the author, as the dismissal of DPAS as a provider of “services on a cost-cutting ‘cheap as chips’ basis” shows a singular lack of understanding of the dental plan market in general and, in particular, DPAS’ position within it.

Dentists who offer their services in private practice do so primarily because they want to take advantage of the financial and clinical independence that this option affords them. Dental plans facilitate this desire for independence by enabling practitioners to enjoy a level of financial stability and the predictability of cash flow that as business people they need. If, as the article suggests, DPAS provide the administration of these services more cost-effectively than other major providers, then frankly we are guilty as charged and we do not apologise for that.

DPAS has always endorsed a model of complete transparency in our charges. We do not bundle our plan administration with a plethora of other services which some practices simply do not need, or may use on a one-off basis but nevertheless pay for year after year. By maintaining low charges, we enable dentists to make autonomous decisions about when, where and how to spend their money on additional services that are actually going to benefit their particular practice - which, contrary to the author’s viewpoint, sounds to me exactly like a system that puts dentists in control.

It is simply not appropriate for DPAS to seek to ‘lead’ the dental profession - rather, our aim is to provide a product and level of service that facilitates those dentists who wish to do so, to work within the private sector in a manner that is profitable for them and provides a means of enabling patients to budget for routine oral care.

Having been involved in the dental plan market for more than 25 years, the past 16 at DPAS, I naturally have my own opinion on certain issues that affect the profession and on occasion I have been vocal on these topics. However, our aim is not to be opinion leaders, but instead to play our part in enabling dentists to do exactly what the author calls for - to take control of their own fate and be responsible for the growth and success of their own practice and the delivery of high quality patient care.

Quentin Skinner, chairman of DPAS.