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Could the Uber ruling set a precedent for associate dentists too, Michael Watson questions. Last week two Uber drivers won a legal case at an employment tribunal, which ruled they were ‘workers’ who are entitled to the minimum wage and holiday pay. The question has been asked whether this might set a precedent for associate dentists,…
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Dentists should be included in the treatment plan for type 2 diabetics, Michael Watson says. With the diabetes ‘time bomb’ threatening to bankrupt the NHS, this week’s blog is going to be personal. England looks set to reach five million type 2 diabetes diagnoses by 2020 – five years sooner than previously thought – prompting…
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It’s worth paying more to make sure you don’t end up with counterfeit dental equipment, Michael Watson says. It always surprises me that dentists who say that patients should be prepared to pay for quality, scratch around for the cheapest deals possible for themselves. They will say that if only patients gave up their fags…
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It is the responsibility of the profession to solve the issue over a lack of access to NHS dentistry in Bradford, Michael Watson says. While the eyes of the profession were focused on Dental Showcase in London last week, there was a fierce debate at City Hall, Bradford, over problems local people were having accessing…
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Child tooth decay needs to be tackled in schools, rather than waiting for a visit to the dental practice, Michael Watson says. There can be little doubt what the main dental story has been this year, the state of children’s oral health. In 2014/15 over 26,000 children aged between five and nine were admitted to…
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The new Easy IOTN app could help involve both patient and parent in orthodontic treatment at an early stage, Michael Watson says. Last week saw me on a trip to Brighton to visit the British Orthodontic Society (BOS), which was holding its annual conference there. The occasion was the unveiling of the first IOTN app, which BOS…
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The future of dentistry will move responsibility away from the associates to the contract holders, Michael Watson says. Last week NHS Digital (formerly the NHS Information Centre) published its annual report on dentists’ pay across the UK. The headline figure, brought to our attention by the British Dental Association (BDA), was that there had been a…
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It is time for the NHS to list what is available on the NHS, and what will be privately funded, getting rid of part-funded treatments, Michael Watson says. When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir? This quotation, often wrongly attributed to the great economist, John Maynard Keynes (although he said…
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Michael Watson responds to The Times story: ‘Toothache patients costs GPs £26m a year’ An article in today’s Times co-written by its health editor, Chris Smyth and Dentistry columnist, Neel Kothari, says that hundreds of thousands of GP appointments are being taken by patients with toothache as they try to avoid rising fees for NHS…
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Michael Watson says lack of access to NHS services, including dentistry, is always a trigger for MPs to complain. Before they went off on their summer hols, some MPs were beginning to raise concerns about difficulties some constituents were finding in accessing NHS dentistry. Judith Cummins, Labour MP for Bradford South, is lobbying the government…
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Michael Watson says the profession is on its own after the childhood obesity strategy failed to prioritise oral health. Aesop’s Fables contains the story of the mountain in labour that brought forth a mouse. It seemed an apt metaphor for last week’s child obesity strategy, which after a two-year gestation period produced a slim-line version,…
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Michael Watson explains how the UDA system came about and how it is supposed to work in the practice. The Times article titled ‘The great dental rip-off’ still gives rise to comment within the profession and outside. It claimed that thousands of teeth were ‘needlessly extracted’ as surgeries were accused of ‘putting profit before patients’.…
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The recent headlines on flossing could do more harm than good, Michael Watson says. The silly season got well underway last week. For the uninitiated this is when the makers of serious news take their summer holidays and journalists are forced into writing ‘silly’ stories. The week started in good form with pictures of the…
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The GDC’s decision to stop publishing registrants addresses shows the GDC has turned a corner, Michael Watson says. It’s been a pretty tough couple of years for dentists and their regulator, the General Dental Council (GDC). So first let me give credit to the GDC for its recent decision to stop publishing addresses on the register.…
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The oral health of older people living in care homes needs to be given more priority, Michael Watson says. A couple of weeks ago, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) produced new guidance on the oral health of older people living in care homes, mainly targeted on carers. Since then we have…
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Michael Watson reports on the government reshuffle and explains how it could affect dentistry. Back in 2002 I was working at the BDA on Dame Margaret Seward’s report Options for Change. It was all ready to go public when there was a reshuffle and dentistry had a new minister (David Lammy MP). Publication of the…
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Michael Watson reviews a new report from the King’s Fund calling on the government to be honest with the public about what the health service can deliver. Whilst the media were preoccupied with the ‘party games’ at Westminster, the King’s Fund issued a briefing that could cause a major headache for a new Secretary of State…
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Michael Watson takes a closer look at the PSA’s review into the GDC. Last Tuesday (5 July) the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) gave an overview of health professional regulation and registration last year to the Health Select Committee. It has a duty to report to Parliament in Westminster and also…
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Michael Watson looks back through history to speculate on who might be the next Prime Minister. The unexpected outcome of the EU referendum has lost us the Prime Minister. Since then speculation has been rife in the media about who will be next, with the favourite emerging as Boris Johnson, albeit with a growing ABB…
