Scottish Dental Practice Committee Report – 23 May 2018

By PatriciaAdmin | 7th June 2018
  1. Scottish Government’s Oral Health Improvement Plan (OHIP)
    The committee was concerned about the lack of early BDA involvement in implementing the plan and that a Scottish Government Steering Group had been set up without any BDA / SDPC representation. SDPC Executive Sub-committee would raise these issues at the June 2018 meeting with Scottish Government. Members welcomed the announcement that NHS occupational health services would be available for dentists and practice staff from June, and discussed how to promote the benefits of these services to the profession. Members requested that the BDA Principal Executive Committee investigate how dental services are delivered in other countries, as this may help inform discussions with the Scottish Government on the implementation of OHIP.
  2. Minamata Convention on Amalgam
    The committee received an update that an agreement had been reached with Scottish Government on revised fees. The Chief Dental Officer (CDO) had confirmed in a letter to BDA Scotland on 3 May 2018 that there will be two fees for resin restorations which will enable compliance with the Minamata Convention Treaty. This will comprise of a new single fee (new item 43) for a resin filling in a permanent tooth for children under 15 years of age of £18.40 per tooth. For larger fillings where mesio-occlusal and/or disto-occlusal surfaces are involved, the fee would increase to £28.60 per tooth.
  3. Motions from the Conference of Scottish Local Dental Committees 2018
    Fifteen motions were debated at the Conference of Scottish LDCs which took place on Friday 20 April 2018 at the Stirling Court Hotel, University of Stirling. Eleven motions were passed by delegates. SPDC members reviewed these motions and will implement a new procedure where the SDPC Executive Sub-committee will discuss the motions further at its June meeting. The Executive will then decide what action should be taken against the nine motions which became SDPC policy, and those that required further investigation. D McColl, Chair of SDPC will report on progress against each of the motions to Conference 2019. It was noted that from initial feedback, Conference had been a success.
  4. GDPR
    The Data Protection Bill received Royal Assent on 24 May 2018 and came into force as the Data Protection Act 2018 on 25 May. It was noted that the BDA had issued various communications to members during the legislative process and what it would mean for dentists, including newsletters, presentations and adverts across various media. The BDA had also published a range of GDPR information, guidance and resources for members on the BDA website. Following a request from BDA Scotland, the CDO had added a link to the BDA guidance on her Twitter account.
  5. Paediatric Extractions by General Anaesthetic in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
    P Grigor, National Director, BDA Scotland reported BDA Scotland was adopting a coordinated approach to this issue to avoid duplication across the committees. Similar issues had been reported in the Public Dental Service and further information was being sought. It was also reported that during the Scottish Conference of LDCs, the Chair of SDPC had asked the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport about the extended waiting times in some NHS Boards and the lack of response to BDA Scotland’s request to resolve the issue. Ms Robison was concerned to hear that children can wait up to six months for treatment whilst in pain and gave her assurance that if the matter required to be escalated to her office, she would personally intervene.
  6. Quality Improvement and SCI Gateway
    The Chair reported that he had met with D Felix, Dean Post Graduate Education, NHS Education for Scotland, who had indicated that he had been liaising with the CDO about a proposal for self-certification for dentists for clinical audit. This was well received by members.
  7. DDRB
    It was reported that Scottish Government had received 14 returns for the Scottish Government Expenses Survey of GDPs who are 92% NHS committed, and a further 16 were in progress. A reminder had been issued on 22 May 2018 to the dentists in both the first and second tranche of the exercise. The deadline for the exercise is 31 May 2018. The DDRB report will be sent to the UK Government in mid-June, and published in due course.
  8. Ongoing Items for Future Discussion
    • Buccal Midazolam
    • Refugee Programme
    • PSD subsequent survey
    • Scottish Government Oral Surgery Working Group
  9. Arrangements for The Next Meeting The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 5 September 2018 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Dunblane Hydro at 13:30hrs.

David McColl
Chair SDPC
May 2018

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