Sir, I'm writing to say that SHO pay scales are a consistent problem in many health care trusts for dentists pursuing a hospital career.

A circular (gateway ref 2482) from the Department of Health by Jerry Read, states 'From January 1st 2004 dentists who have completed vocational training in the GDS and whom take up SHO posts should be placed on point 1 of the SHO pay scale and not 0'. So all new SHOs take note!

In my particular case I completed the following:

  • Vocational training 12 months

  • General professional training on an approved scheme

  • Six months community and six months SHO restorative

  • Community dental officer 11 months

  • SHO oral and maxillofacial surgery 12 months — my current job.

Despite submitting all my experience my current health authority still placed me on SHO point1. Firstly I explained how vocational training counts towards point 0, but I was surprised to be told if you have done VT prior to 1 January 2004 it may not.

Secondly, if VT counts as point 0 then surely GPT counts as point 1 regardless of whether you have done six months community and six months SHO or a full year as an SHO?

The third problem I faced was that if you do a community job you still seem to get nowhere on the SHO pay scale if you then decide to return to hospital.

I contacted the BDA who then kindly put me through to a regional BMA employment adviser. The adviser suggested I should be on POINT 3 of the pay scale and that all my past work which had been entirely in the community and hospital services is protected pay. This is according to Whitley terms based on the provisions of department of health circular PM 81 (30).

My case has still not been resolved by the health authority and has now been referred to the Department of Health.

I'm sure there are many out there who find themselves in similar positions. The problem is that health authorities have no clear guidelines to work from and the pay scales between community and hospital are different. This unfortunately creates problems when you interchange jobs between the two. It's an unfair situation as a prerequisite to many specialist registrar positions in dentistry is to have a broad base training in many areas.

The BDJ Editor-in-Chief Stephen Hancocks responds: The BDA does not deal directly in cases involving starting pay for SHOs but has a contract with the BMA to take cases for BDA members working within the hospital service. Arrangements for starting pay at SHO are nevertheless not always straightforward, depending on previous experience in the NHS and where a member will have gained their experience or time in VT. Consequently, the BDA advise all members looking to take up SHO posts to contact the BMA for advice before taking up an appointment.