The new year is set to be one of growth for the Association of Dental Groups (ADG) as membership hits a record 30 dental groups.
As the trade body representing the dental workforce across the ‘mixed economy’ of NHS, private and community-based services, ADG’s purpose since the association’s creation 15 years ago in 2011, is to advocate for UK dental groups by working with stakeholders and policymakers.
The leadership of ADG members are often experienced dentists themselves, with involvement in professional and vocational training. Areas of focus include working on sector improvements for dental groups, including sharing consistent best practice, supporting innovation, and encouraging the investment and skills development of all dental professionals.
ADG’s new dental groups are:
- Brite Dental
- Smart Dental Care
- Wooding Dental Group
- Pain Free Dentistry Group
- Goel Dental.
‘Dentistry has changed almost beyond recognition’
Neil Carmichael, executive chair, Association of Dental Groups said: ‘The Association of Dental Groups warmly welcomes our five new dental groups to our ADG membership. This is a fantastic moment to join as we look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary. For a decade and a half, the ADG team, board and our actively involved membership have been working hard to make sure those running the business of dentistry in this country are heard.
‘We are working with stakeholders to ensure NHS contract reforms reflect the challenges our dental group leaders are facing. Over the last 15 years dentistry has changed almost beyond recognition, and we must ensure that dental groups are supported to deliver the access patients deserve.
‘A key issue we have been campaigning to resolve is the massive gap in the dental workforce. We have over 2,700 dentist vacancies, across the NHS and private sectors in the UK, plus vacancies in the wider workforce. Addressing the Overseas Registration Examination bottleneck must be a priority. We know there are more than 5,000 trained international dentists who are queuing up to take the exam which would immediately improve patient access.
‘As the ADG grows our voice becomes louder and the association’s power to push for change becomes even stronger. This is how we will achieve improvements in dentistry for patients and professionals.’
The ADG represents over 2,000 practices, approximately 1,800 in England and the balance spread across the devolved nations. ADG members are made up of approximately 10,000 clinicians delivering NHS, private and community-based dentistry to more than 10 million patients every year. ADG members adopt and share best practice to enable their peers to deliver the highest quality service to patients, with a focus on preventative care.
This article is sponsored by the Association of Dental Groups.
