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Dental Tribune United Kingdom

Published by Dental Tribune UK Ltd © 2011, Dental Tribune UK Ltd. All rights reserved. Dental Tribune UK Ltd makes every effort to report clinical information and manufacturer’s product news accurately, but cannot assume responsibility for the validity of product claims, or for typographical errors. The publishers also do not assume responsibility for product names or claims, or statements made by advertisers. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and may not reflect those of Dental Tribune International. Group Editor Lisa Townshend Tel: 020 7400 8979 Lisa@dentaltrib- uneuk.com Editorial Assistant Laura Hatton Laura..hatton@dentalt- ribuneuk.com Tel: 020 7400 8981 Advertising Director Joe Aspis Tel: 020 7400 8969 Joe@dentaltribuneuk. com Sales Executive Joe Ackah Tel: 020 7400 8964 Joe.ackah@dentalt- ribuneuk.com Design & Production Ellen Sawle Ellen@dentaltrib uneuk.com Tel: 020 7400 8921 Dental Tribune UK Ltd 4th Floor, Treasure House, 19–21 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8BA T he Government is seek- ing the public’s views on a number of proposed changes to regulations for the Care Quality Commission regis- tration. It has been stated that the first year of the new registration sys- tem, which has been operated by the CQC, has highlighted several issues with regards to the regula- tions. Some regulations have not functioned as initially intended, whilst others have had a lack of clarity or impose an “unjustified burden” on providers. In seeking the views of the public and work- ing bodies, it also asks respond- ents to identify any further issues that should be taken into con- sideration as part of a wider review which will begin later this year. The consultation document, which is available online, states: The proposals include changes to both the regulation of healthcare and adult social care services that, subject to consultation responses and the Parliamentary process, could be made swiftly and that we plan to start to implement in 2012. The 56-page proposal is fol- lowed by an eight page question- naire, which medical profes- sionals and the public alike are encouraged to complete. The con- sultation closes on 7 October, 2011. Purpose of the registration regulations review: When the reg- istration regulations were made, a commitment was made to carry out a full review of the operation of the regulations that underpin the registration system within three years. The document states how the proposal, which was set out when the registration regulations were introduced, is a first step in its commitment to review the opera- tions of the regulations that under- pin the registration system. The initial review of the regu- lations aims to: (a) Consider the opportunities for streamlining the existing require- ments, reducing the burden of regulation (b) Consider issues that have emerged with the practical opera- tion of the registration system by CQC (c) Correct oversights in the draft- ing of the regulations and possible unintended interpretations of the regulations that have come to light following implementation (d) Tackle issues it was not pos- sible to resolve in advance of the regulations being made (e) Ensure consistency across the regulatory system (f) Ensure that the require- ment to register appropriately reflects the risks to those receiving care The proposal also states that the government has “no desire to limit opportunities to provide health and adult social care or to restrict entry to the market un- necessarily. We therefore propose retaining the requirement for the registered person to be “fit”, but to amend the regulations so that where the provider is a partner- ship, the partnership as a collec- tive body needs to have the rel- evant skills and experience, rather than these being held by each in- dividual partner. The proposal will remove a regulatory burden on providers and allow business flexibility.” In direct response to dentistry, the consultation document pro- poses to make the regulations clearer with regards to the terms Medical and/or dental services. As the proposal states: the regula- tions are not consistent in the use of the terms “medical” and “den- tal” and whether or not the term medical includes dental. We pro- pose to amend the regulations to make this clearer. The consultation document and the questionnaire can be found at www.dh.gov.uk/en/Con- sultations/Liveconsultations/ DH_128222 DT Give your views on CQC T welve organisations have successfully bid for fund- ing from a new charita- ble fund which will help nearly 20,000 people to improve their oral health. The British Dental Health Foundation established the ‘Oral Health Education Project’ ear- lier this year to support the work of local oral health promotion teams across the UK and the project has been made possible by a generous charitable dona- tion of £100,000 from the ‘Wrigley Tooth Fairy Fund’. The twelve organisations which will receive funding are: NHS Nottingham City will start a project to develop oral health education materials and guid- ance for primary school teach- ers and pupils in Key Stage One. Buckinghamshire Prior- ity Dental Service (Milton Key- nes Primary Care Trust) will begin a project to support eld- erly and vulnerable in-patients in five Buckinghamshire hospitals whose oral health is affected by their medical conditions such as strokes and head injuries. NHS East London and the City (Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets) project targets parents of children under the age of one to help reduce dental de- cay and increase the use of dental services. South Tyneside NHS Founda- tion Trust will conduct a series of week-long Dental Health Road- shows, funded by the Wrigley Tooth Fairy Fund, for more than 1,000 children, carers, parents, guardians and teachers in special needs schools across South Tyne- side, Gateshead and Sunderland. Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have devised a community project which helps to improve the oral health, knowledge and skills of families living in North Tyneside with some of the poorest levels of oral health. North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust project is a partnership which will provide 59 primary schools with teaching resources for key stage two pu- pils to help integrate oral health into the school curriculum. The project will also help to link all schools to a local dental practice and support students at Teesside University Dental School to gain training and work experience during the project. Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust’s project seeks to im- prove oral health in Ilfracombe, Devon, which has only one NHS Dental Practice and limited cur- rent oral health education and promotion activity. Peninsula Dental School sup- ported by NHS Plymouth, will train up 24 ‘Oral Health Ambas- sadors’ to work in children cen- tres across Plymouth. Heart of England NHS Foun- dation Trust will begin a project which will help to raise the profile and promote the im- portance of good oral health in a deprived area of North Soli- hull called Smiths Wood. The area currently does not have a dental practice, and fund- ing from the Wrigley Tooth Fairy Fund will help to create a regular and sustained presence in the ward by training volun- teers, developing resources for Health Visitors and encouraging access to dental services. The funding will also help NHS Sheffield increase the long- term use of dental services by children in Sheffield, allowing them to help train up to 40 health visitors and provide resources to help orally assess children at the age of one, two and three. Chil- dren in four deprived areas of Sheffield will be provided with vouchers to encourage visits to dentists. Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust have devised a project to establish oral health plans for older people in care homes and help care home staff to provide daily good oral care for their residents. A community project by Healthy Living Network Leeds and supported by NHS Leeds, will help educate 600 children and their families in Leeds about good oral health. The project is supported by volunteers and the Wrigley Tooth Fairy Fund will enable the organisation to continue their charitable work with 60 children’s centres across the city. DT £100,000 helps deprived areas August 1-7, 20112 News United Kingdom Edition A ccording to a recent report, a dental board in North Carolina sent 42 letters instructing non-den- tist’s to stop providing teeth- whitening services, telling them that they were practising dentistry illegally. The actions of the Dental Board were taken to court and a decision was made by Chief Administrative Law Judge D Michael Chappell that the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners had in fact violated the law by trying to block non- dentists in the state from pro- viding teeth-whitening goods or services. Teeth whitening servic- es are offered by dentists in offices and also as home kits, whereas non-dentists tend to offer the treatment in salons, shopping centres and retail stores. In the original complaint, which was made in 2010, it was alleged that there were at least six cases when the Dental Board threatened or discour- aged non-dentists who were considering opening teeth- whitening businesses. The complaint also alleged that the Dental Board sent at least 11 letters to third-parties – mall owners and property management companies – stating that teeth-whitening services offered in malls are illegal. One report stated how it was alleged that the Dental Board’s actions reduced the availability of teeth-whitening services in North Carolina, and that the Dental Board’s conduct constituted an anticompetitive conspiracy among the dentists on the Dental Board, in viola- tion of federal law. It was ruled that the Den- tal Board did not have the au- thority to order non-dentists to discontinue providing teeth whitening goods or services. As a result of their actions they have been ordered to send follow-up letters to the non-dentists and barred from engaging in the same anti- competitive conduct in the future. DT US non-dentists ‘illegally blocked from whitening’