In the past, when bonfires were huge, winters were cold, and most houses were heated by a coal fire it was traditional in the weeks leading up to Christmas for small children to write a letter to Santa with requests for presents. This letter would be posted, with great anticipation, up the chimney where as if by magic it would be transported to Lapland. But what should one put on the list? It wouldn’t do to be too greedy would it? But on the other hand, new bikes or expensive toys were normally out of reach.....and so it’s interesting to speculate what dentists would hope to find in Santa’s sack this year.
First on the list might be the new wonder cement that works with the constantly de-bonding post crowns made by others in the past, followed by a close second of the topical anaesthetic cream that instantly anaesthetises the pulp.
But enough of fantasy and fairy tales, perhaps we should wish for some more tangible benefits for a profession who need to see signs of hope for the future? After all, Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace and goodwill, and so some signs of goodwill towards a beleaguered profession would not go amiss. We see that the NHS contract pilots are to be extended, and additional practices recruited from April 2013, and the early signs are that the pilots are working well for practices and patients. But what about those not in the pilots, some 8,000 odd practices in England who are facing rising expenses and falling incomes? These practices await with trepidation their new masters at the National Commissioning Board, wondering if they will handle contract management in a fairer and more consistent way than the soon to disappear primary care trusts.
Who will oversee the quality of general dental practice? Will it be the CQC who have at last begun to listen to sense and have appointed some actual dentists to help them in their role? Or will anyone actually look at the quality of dentistry provided by examining patients? Maybe some dental reference officers will fit into Santa’s sack; we can make room by getting rid of some of the ridiculous red tape that seems to be ever increasing.
Everyone understands the current economic climate is weak and the recession is still with us. However, those in dental practices have seen incomes fall in real terms whilst expenses rise inexorably. For those working in the NHS this is the time of year when any uplifts in contract value are decided by Government. I understand that the BDA has told the Department of Health that it is completely unreasonable to expect further efficiencies (that’s shorthand for cuts) from the profession and that the pay freeze has actually been a pay cut and needs to be corrected.
Few things have dismayed the profession more than to see some 35 new graduates unable to obtain Foundation Training places. These colleagues, whose training carried a high cost to the public purse, face an uncertain start to their careers and high levels of debt. They deserve better, and places need to be found for them, and the problem must not be compounded next year.
This article started with fantasy and fairy tales and continued in the same vein, it only remains to wish all those associated with our profession a restful break, and possibly for some, a glass or two of Lafitte flavoured mouthwash.