Sir, I write in reference to the letter from Dr M. B. Rothschild Rights and responsibilities (BDJ 2009; 206: 338). I sympathise with Dr Rothschild's – and his patient's – predicament but it is not new. I wrote in 2000 (Volume 190 issue 6) in response to Dr S. Orlans' earlier letter on precisely the same issue.

Nine years later nothing has been done to alleviate the problem. Bearing in mind the list of acceptable telephone prescribers that pharmacists have been given by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society the exclusion of GDC registered dentists is really nothing short of scandal.

Can the BDA explain what the General Practice Committee is for if not to address exactly such difficulties as this? Do they listen to members or are they so fixed on their own agenda that they have lost all flexibility to deal with the real concerns of members and clear anomalies in the system imposed on us?

There are colleagues who have resigned over less significant matters.