DTUK0813

F rom 2 April 2013, the Health Service Ombuds- man will be investigating more complaints and sharing more information with the NHS, including dentists, marking the first step in delivering plans to have more impact for more peo- ple. Under the new plans, once a complaint meets some basic tests it will usually be investigat- ed. This means the Ombudsman service will be investigating and sharing the learning from thou- sands more complaints each year. The changes will benefit individual complainants, public services and the wider public. For complainants, an inde- pendent organisation will have looked at their complaint and made a formal ruling on it. For organisations complained about, including dentists, GPs and other NHS providers, they will benefit from seeing, com- menting on and learning from more of the cases the Ombuds- man looks at. This will help them improve public services. The new approach is also a response to what public organi- sations themselves want from the Ombudsman service: which is to share more learning from the cases it looks at. This will also support the drive across public services to use com- plaints to identify service failure and deliver service improve- ment, especially in light of the recent findings by the Mid Staf- fordshire Public Inquiry. Julie Mellor, the Health Ser- vice Ombudsman said: “We’ve responded to feedback from public services, parliamentar- ians and our public research. That’s why we will begin inves- tigating more complaints from the beginning of April. We want complaints to make a difference and help improve public services for everyone. There will be more opportu- nities for service providers to learn from complaints which can be used to improve public services. We still want com- plaints to be resolved locally wherever possible.” DT 7NewsApril 1-7, 2013United Kingdom Edition The importance of quality - BDTA M ore than 25 members of the dental press gathered at the Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes Hotel in Baker Street on 15 Febru- ary to mark the launch of the BDTA Dental Showcase 2013 marketing theme and brand new website. The Sherlock Holmes ven- ue was chosen to link with this year’s theme of ‘seeing what’s new in dentistry’, which fea- tures the popular Showcase dental character with a detec- tive’s magnifying glass, help- ing bring to life the idea of delegates at Showcase search- ing out the latest in their field. Guests gathered for drinks and a catch up before Tony Reed, Executive Director of the BDTA, introduced the theme and thanked the press for their continuing support of BDTA Dental Showcase. This was followed by lunch in a room that included pictures and memorabilia of the popu- lar detective stories. Tony Reed commented, “The launch of the BDTA Den- tal Showcase 2013 theme to the press was a great oppor- tunity to highlight the impor- tance of this prestigious event. With the rise in popularity of the Internet and the recent cases of suspect dental equip- ment being sold online, qual- ity trade shows from trusted associations such as the BDTA offer dental professionals an opportunity to buy with confi- dence. BDTA Dental Showcase is the UK’s largest and most pop- ular dental exhibition and this year’s theme reinforces all that is great about the event- the ability to view, touch and experience all that is new in dentistry, all under one roof”. BDTA Dental Showcase 2013 will be held at Birming- ham NEC from 17-19th Octo- ber. To find out more about BDTA Dental Showcase 2013 and register for tickets visit: www.dentalshowcase.com now! DT N ew impetus has been given to practice-own- ers wanting to appoint more staff members thanks to George Osborne’s 2013 Budget. In a variety of ways, he has cut the staffing costs of employers as well as making it easier for potential employees to move home or organise childcare says Charles Linaker, a Partner in dental accounting specialists UNW LLP. Following the Chancellor’s Budget announcements before a rowdy House of Commons, Charles listed some of the key benefits for practice owners and their teams: • A new “Employment Allow- ance” which will result in a saving in Employers NIC upto £2,000. • Help with the purchase of new-build homes for those try- ing to get on the property lad- der. So long as the property is worth less than £600k and the purchaser can find five per cent for the deposit, the Government will provide an interest free loan of 20 per cent. • An uplift from £5k to £10k in employer loans that can be made without giving rise to a taxable benefit on the employee – helpful for season rail tickets or other transport (or indeed new build house purchase?) – will come into effect from 6 April 2014. • Childcare discount of 20 per cent up to a value of £1,200. The tax free Personal Allow- ance will be increased to £10,000 from 6 April 2014, a year earlier than planned (and coming on top of the increase from £8,105 to £9,440 already announced from 6 April 2013). This could help team members work- ing part-time or starting work half way through the tax year. Also from April 2015 there will be a single rate of Corpora- tion Tax of only 20 per cent for all companies of whatever size and irrespective of whether more than one is under common con- trol. This is a genuine tax sim- plification measure which will benefit all incorporated dental practices and particularly those practitioners who may currently own and operate more than one limited company. It may also encourage yet more practices to go down the incor- poration route. DT Expansion of dental teams made easier by 2013 Budget Charles Linaker P ortugal triumphed in the recent Comic Relief ‘Mini World Cup’ Chal- lenge, which was organised by Manan and has raised more than £1,000 so far. In a bid to raise money for Red Nose Day, Manan Ltd brought to- gether some of the biggest names in dentistry for a table football tournament, includes Strau- mann, DPAS, Purple Media, and Dental Tribune competing for the “World Cup” at Manan’s offices in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire. ‘Team Portugal’: Quentin Skinner, DPAS Chairman, and Manan’s Matthew Fearn; and ‘Team New Zealand’: Chris Gre- ville and Richard McGowan, Product Managers from Strau- mann, beat off stiff competition to make it to the final round. It was close, but Portugal brought home the trophy in the final round, beating New Zealand 10-8. On the day, attendees also took part in other fundraising activities, including a football quiz, won by Dental Tribune’s Joe Aspis; “keepie uppies”; FIFA on Xbox; and the spinning bike chal- lenge. All proceeds went directly to Comic Relief. Donations can still be made on- line via http://my.rednoseday. com/sponsor/mananminiworld- cup DT Portugal wins the World Cup! DPAS Quentin Skinner (left) and Manan’s Matthew Fearn More investigations for more people Health Service Ombudsman will be increasing their level of investigations