News

Self-isolation exemption for healthcare workers Discussions in Scotland have taken place following the UK Government’s announcement that vaccinated Health & Social Care staff could be exempted from self-isolation. Scottish Government has issued a letter to NHS Boards; ​these arrangements are decided on a case by case subject to risk assessment and the service being in…

This document summarises recent key developments and BDA Scotland activities. We publish regular updates on these issues on the BDA’s Coronavirus Live Updates web page: Live updates: Coronavirus and dentistry (bda.org)

Dear all I would be grateful if you could share Director’s Letter – DL(2021)22 – Self Isolation Exemption for Health and Social Care Workers with your contacts. The framework has been designed with clinical leads within the Scottish Government to enable fully vaccinated and asymptomatic Health and Social Care staff who have been a contact…

Please find attached a letter from the Director of Dentistry regarding the restart of Dental Practice Inspections with effect from 1 September 2021. Practices will be given approx. 8 weeks notice in advance of their inspection. Those practices who are are due September, October and November have already received notification that they are the first…

Dear colleague, I am very aware of the pressure that you are all coming under from patients anxious to receive routine care and increasingly expecting to be able to do so. I append a letter from me to any / all of your NHS patients trying to calm expectations at this stage of the pandemic…

Dear Dental Practitioners I refer to the recent Memorandum to NHS Circular PCA(D)(2021)3 Funding Support for Ventilation Equipment in General Dental Practice. In line with that document practices can now make a claim for any associated costs of ventilating their surgeries. The following is attached: Memorandum to NHS Circular PCA(D)(2021)3 guidance from The Scottish Government.…

We appreciate that the last 18 months or so have not been easy for anybody, and in particular for all of us in the world of Dentistry. We know that you are all working hard to support the care needs of your patients and that your activity is necessarily reduced because of the current IPC requirements.…

Message sent to dental practices in Lothian Please ensure that all relevant staff are aware of this message Sent on behalf of Dental Public Health Dear all, We hope you and your families and dental team are keeping safe as the world opens up and case numbers continue to rise. You will probably be aware…

I would like to update you on some forthcoming actions in relation to infection prevention and control guidance and some recent and potential changes.

Dear colleague, Recently the dental sub-group of the Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group (SAPG-D) made a recommendation to me on two issues

For your information please find the link to this week’s BDA Live Updates.

This report contains a summary of developments in Scotland since the PEC meeting in February.

Scotland’s Mental Health Strategy takes a health promoting and preventative approach, with a guiding ambition to prevent and treat mental health problems with the same commitment, passion and drive as we do with physical health problems. We are acutely aware of the growing impact the Coronavirus pandemic is having on our professional and personal lives.…

I would like to update you on some forthcoming changes to Determination V (maternity, paternity, and adoptive leave payments) and VI (long term sickness payments) of the Statement of Dental Remuneration (SDR). CDO(2021)2

We’ve been in discussion with the Scottish Government following concerns from pregnant dentists that they are being financially disadvantaged. This is because the “test period” for calculating maternity payments is now increasingly based on the COVID support payments (80% of pre-pandemic gross Item of Service). This means that such dentists are receiving lower payments than…

As you are aware Scottish Government have said that continued financial support, at the current level, to practices will be predicated by their delivering around 20% of prior clinical activity. The measure that is to be used to define that activity level has yet to be finalized, but it will inevitably include elements of submissions…

Please use the following link to see the latest BDA Live Updates:

We are transitioning to a replacement for the 3M 1863+ mask. The new mask (3M 9330+) is a direct equivalent to the 3M 1863+ and therefore, if you have been face fitted for the 1863+ mask, you can use the 9330+ model. Due to this transition your order from the last 4 week cycle may…

As you are aware reusable FFP3 masks are not supported by the NHS Lothian RPE team. However I am also conscious that a number of practices are using these masks as a routine for patient care. Please read the update:

Is the virus responsible for the clinical condition known as COVID19 resulting in the pandemic we are all experiencing. As you will all be aware 3 vaccines against this virus have now been approved for use in the UK and as front line health care workers dentists and their teams are eligible for vaccination in…