Sir, I think we need some clarification regarding the exact implication of standard 1.7.2: '...If you work in a practice that provides both NHS (or equivalent health service) and private treatment (a mixed practice), you MUST make clear to your patients which treatments can be provided under the NHS (or equivalent health service) and which can only be provided on a private basis.'

As far as I am aware there is no set list of treatments that can be provided under NHS arrangements and it is down to an individual's interpretation of 'clinically necessary and clinically cost effective' to quote the departing Chief Dental Officer for England. Before the 2006 fiasco (contract), we all knew the limitations of the NHS provisions and if we wanted to step outside these we asked for approval from the DRO service. Since the abolition of this body the system has been woolly at best. This leads to confusion in both patients and practitioners, in fact the whole Which? campaign of late could have been headed off by getting this ludicrous situation remedied.

I humbly suggest that every single NHS practitioner could potentially be found guilty of violating this standard completely innocently if, at an FTP hearing, the 'expert' witness decrees his opinion to differ from your own. This is a ridiculous situation for us, as professionals, to be in. I implore the BDA who represent us as a trade union to remedy this and publically call on the Department of Health to clarify their expectations. We risk our livelihoods at the whim of someone whose opinion may differ from our own. If I am mistaken then I would be grateful to see a copy of the full list of NHS approved treatments, as even the GDC could not provide me with one. If anyone out there can help please contact me, my address is on the GDC website (surprisingly!).

This is one battle the BDA should fight. They should partner with the GDC and Which? to produce clarity, as it is good for both patients and practitioners and would massively reduce the amount of stress within the profession, and confusion for patients. It would be a real win/win. We cannot hit an undefined standard, it's an impossibility! The BDA has recently shown its teeth and if we want dentistry to be taken seriously we need to keep fighting the stupidity that currently surrounds the NHS situation.

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