Dental Tribune United Kingdom

M outh Cancer Survi- vor Louise Holtaway, 49, a self-employed Mortgage Broker from Bury St Edmunds, is taking part in the 6th annual Mouth Cancer 10km Awareness Walk for the third time this year. Louise was diagnosed with Mouth Cancer in September 2008. Louise first noticed white patches along the left hand side of her tongue but she like many people just thought it was nothing to worry about. A few months later Louise found that she had got an ulcer in the same area and assumed it was just an everyday ulcer that would go away. However, it did not go way and became more painful. After being pushed into going to see the doctor, the doctor took one look at the prob- lem area and referred her for a biopsy. A month after being diagnosed Louise underwent surgery to remove a part of her tongue as well as a neck dissec- tion to remove lymph nodes. The Mouth Cancer Foun- dation 10 KM Awareness Walk takes place at 13:00 on Saturday 17th September 2011, in Hyde Park, London and this year the charity is hoping more than 1,000 people will step out and make a difference. The walk, which is grow- ing year on year, is designed to increase awareness and through fundraising allows the charity to provide support for mouth cancer patients and car- ers. People travel from all over the world to support the walk, which has raised in excess of £154,000 over the last five years. There will be FREE mouth cancer screening on the day, plus prizes available for top individual and team fundraisers. Louise said: “The Mouth Cancer Foundation has been a saving grace for me! Through their support group I have been able to interact with other people in a similar situation as me. It is great to know that I am not alone and there is help and support out there. The main rea- son that I am doing this walk is to raise awareness of mouth can- cer. I had such a great time last year and can’t wait to meet up with people that I met last year. “I found it unbelievable the amount of people who did not know about Mouth Cancer when I told them about my diagnosis,” Louisa added. The Founder of the Mouth Cancer Foundation Dr Vinod Joshi said: “The Mouth Cancer 10KM Awareness Walk is a great opportunity for mouth cancer survivors, their families and friends, the public and health professionals to come together and stand up against this debili- tating disease.” To take part in the FREE Mouth Cancer Founda- tion 10 KM Awareness Walk visit www.mouthcancerwalk.org DT Mouth cancer survivor steps out August 1-7, 20116 News United Kingdom Edition P residents and Vice Presi- dents of the Dental Stu- dents’ Societies from the UK’s 16 dental schools last week attended a one-day workshop at the British Dental Association’s (BDA’s) London headquarters. The 2011 BDA Annual Coun- cil of Presidents Meeting, which took place in July, was designed to hone attendees’ leadership skills, helping to prepare them to take on responsibility in their careers, and develop a profes- sional network of peers from across the UK. It provides prac- tical advice on professional leadership and career devel- opment and allows delegates to quiz senior figures from the dentalprofessionabouttheirown professional development and factors influencing dentistry. Speakers at the event included Dr Simon Gal- lier, Managing Director of Baxi Partnership Healthcare (and former President of the Manchester Dental Student So- ciety), Dr Janine Brooks MBE of the National Clinical As- sessment Service (NCAS), and BDA Chief Executive Peter Ward. BDA Student Committee Chair Martin Nim- mo and BDSA President Kirpal Benawra also addressed del- egates. Peter Ward said: “It’s a huge privilege to attend this day which serves as a re- minder of the energy and verve of the cohort of bright young people currently train- ing to become dentists. It’s important that the profes- sion invests in its future by harnessing, developing and en- couraging the aspirations and abilities of these individuals and I am proud that the BDA was once again this year able to host this day. Leadership skills are a vital component of a dentist’s career development and clinical leadership is be- coming increasingly important in the dental profession.” DT BDA helps to develop next generation T he commissioning of NHS dental services is experiencing a turbu- lent period as it contends with structural change in the NHS, the launch of pilots for a new dental contract and pressures on funding. That’s according to the British Dental Association’s (BDA’s) 2011 Dental Commis- sioning Survey. The research reflects a shift- ing landscape for primary care trusts (PCTs), in which more than a quarter (28 per cent) of those questioned said that their commissioning func- tions had merged with those of other PCTs. Although a very small proportion of respond- ents (eight per cent) of those questioned reported that clus- tering had had a negative impact on their ability to re- spond to local needs, most did not, reporting no change or a positive impact or saying that they did not know what the effect of clustering had been. Half of those questioned said that clustering had improved their ability to manage con- tracts. Pilots for a new dental con- tract also received a largely positive verdict, with 79 per cent of those surveyed stating they believed a new contract based on capitation and quality would increase the quality of care patients receive. More than half (53 per cent) of respond- ents also believed that such a contract would improve the oral health of the local popu- lations for which they are re- sponsible. The survey did uncover concerns about funding is- sues, however, with 21 per cent of those surveyed report- ing cuts of as much as more than four per cent to their budget for salaried primary dental care, and 18 per cent reporting smaller decreases in the budgets for hospital dentist- ry. Further details of the survey are available at: www.bda.org/ Images/local_commissioning_ pct_survey_2011.pdf DT Is this a turbulent time for the NHS? www.velopex.com Call: 020 8965 2913 Email: enquiries@velopex.com www.velopex.com Call: 020 8965 2913 Email: enquiries@velopex.com Proud of our 50 Years in Quality Imaging, let Velopex Lead You into the Digital Future... DTo3da27.04.11rpc