SPEAKING to a packed hall of delegates at this year’s BDA conference in Manchester, Health Minister Lord Earl Howe told his audience that profound changes to the NHS contract must be implemented in stages and, to be successful, must also enjoy the confidence of the profession.

The piloting process has reached the stage where the devil in its detail must be teased out, and a blend of pilot models must be carefully developed, but not thrown together in some kind of knee-jerk big bang scenario.

Piloting of the new NHS contract models across more than 90 dental practices and community dental health centres has been undertaken to develop a model which provides better access and quality of care to patients, it has not yet provided a prototype. However, Earl Howe detailed how the pilots continue to provide valuable information, which must be built upon and followed with a gradual roll out of the prototypes before the final model can, at last, be unveiled.

The next phase will see the launch of a new engagement exercise with the profession, the development of metrics to measure outcomes. This debate has to include discussions on how to create a pathway for improved access and quality.

It is worth mentioning here that pilot practices are currently with a protected incomes. The final model must be robust and contain core elements required of the new contract: access, quality and prevention, while also insuring a worthwhile income for the practitioner, or at least a realistic one.

Lord Howe posits that anger about cut-backs will not solve problems caused by a budget that simply needs to work harder; but honest and probing discussions will help, or to put it simply: “Don’t get angry start talking.”

If the dental profession want to move from piloting to prototyping and a robust final contract, you need to engage and start talking.

 www.2020Dentistry.com provide easy and convenient access to the debate.

This is an opportunity for dentistry to enter the 21st Century and start sharing information intelligently, leading towards creating a practice of dentistry that is better for both the practitioner and the patient.