Introduction

Practices should not expect vocational trainees to take on huge amounts of treatment, Chief Dental Officer Barry Cockcroft told the conference.

In a question and answer session, Dr Cockroft heard from several VDPs who felt they were being exploited by their practices. A VDP from South London said 'I am seeing 80 per cent of the high needs patients and taking home less than the minimum wage if I am doing my job properly.'

Another VDP said he had been given the list of the retiring partner in a practice which meant he too was taking home less than the minimum wage. Another speaker told the CDO 'Vocational trainees are very busy; they are seeing all the patients the associate doesn't want to see.'

Dr Cockroft said 'The use of vocational trainees as mules to do treatment is completely inappropriate.' The PCT should investigate in cases where a VDP is expected to take over the practice of a retiring dentist, he said.

Dr Cockcroft also told the conference that workforce planning was extremely difficult. Asked if it was likely that some dental graduates would find themselves without jobs, he said he had resisted attempts to increase student numbers still further. 'The DFES were in mind to have a further expansion of undergraduate training, but I resisted that,' he said.

Dr Cockroft said the old system for providing NHS services was far from perfect as health authorities had no powers to match provision to need. 'Now new services are opening all the time and the NHS can influence provision,' he said. 'Access in 2002 was very patchy and the NHS could do nothing about it,' he said. There were no payments for prevention under the old system and no evidence base for what was done, he added. There had been a 'vast increase in expenditure' since then, he told the conference.