Initial Treatment Clinic opened at Newcastle

The Secretary of State for Health, the Rt. Hon Mr Alan Milburn MP, officially opened the new Initial Treatment Clinic at Newcastle Dental Hospital on Friday 9th March.

Mr Milburn and Dame Margaret Seward, Chief Dental Officer, are pictured observing student dental hygienist Lynn McCartin.

The refurbished walk-in clinic will improve access for patients and provide better facilities for teaching and treatment in primary dental care. Mr Milburn also visited the dental clinical skills laboratory in the dental school, where he spoke to dental students and student dental hygienists.

ADD wins Best Practice Marketing Campaign 2001

Added Dimension Dentistry (ADD) was awarded Best Practice Marketing Campaign of the year at the Dental Awards 2001.

Dr Nick Mohindra, partner at ADD and pioneer of The ADD Dental Facelift, said: 'We are so pleased to receive the recognition of the British Dental Health Foundation in receiving this award. We are constantly striving to increase awareness of our work both to patients but also to the profession so that we can train other dental surgeons in the specialist work that we do for denture patients.'

The ADD Dental Facelift, which dental surgeons can recommend for patients with eight of more teeth missing, lifts and fills out the face by restoring the natural face height reduced by tooth loss.

Dr Mohindra was also a finalist in the Dentist of the Year category at the Dental Awards. In addition, Added Dimension Dentistry has recently achieved the Investor in People standard.

BDA welcomes new investment in training

The British Dental Association (BDA) has welcomed the latest initiative by the Department of Health to invest more in the education and training of general dental practitioners (GDPs) working within the NHS.

From April 1st 2001, a new Continuing Professional Development Allowance will be payable to all GDPs carrying out NHS work, with those who are 'fully committed' receiving the largest allowances. As a result, dentists could claim up to £1,092 in the financial year 2001/2.

The new allowance, which was formulated after extensive negotiations between the BDA and the Department of Health, will be paid automatically for the first ten hours of (verifiable) continuing education, and may be claimed for a further five hours if the educational activity has been approved by a post-graduate dean. In addition, a loss of practice time allowance of up to a further six hours will also be payable.

Dr Anthony Kravitz, Chairman of the BDA's General Dental Services Committee, said: 'These new payments will do much to support the continuing education and training of dentists, something which the BDA has been calling for some time. We believe that the payments show a commitment within the Department of Health to help dentists improve the quality of oral healthcare provision, which is good for dentists and patients alike.'

Boots acquires dental laboratory

The Boots Company PLC have announced the £1.63 million acquisition of the UK's leading dental laboratories, Portland Ceramics Ltd.

Mark Prentice, Head of Buying and Marketing at Boots Dentalcare is pictured (left) with John Wibberley, Head of Laboratory Services, Boots Dentalcare and founder of Portland Ceramics Ltd.

The acquisition will strengthen Boots ability to meet the increasing patient demand for dental implants and other specialists services. Boots Dentalcare currently has 30 practices in the UK with a further 18 due to open by the end of the year.

Call for nominations from GDC

The General Dental Council have called for nominations for their upcoming elections.

President Nairn Wilson has contacted all members of the profession to encourage participation in the elections to select 18 elected dental members of Council and six dental auxilary members of the Dental Auxiliaries Committee.

This is the first call for nominations since the Council's decision to go ahead with the elections as scheduled to ensure a smooth transition to a new council.

The constitution and composition of the Council is to be changed by forthcoming legislation. The GDC's target date for the establishment of the new council is Autumn 2002.

New chair of Doctors' and Dentists' pay review announced

Michael Blair has been appointed by Prime Minister Tony Blair as the new Chair of the Doctor s' and Dentists' Pay Review Body (DDRB). The post runs for a period of three years.

Mr Blair succeeds Brandon Gough who has been Chair of the DDRB since March 1993.

The DDRB, which has eight members (including the Chair) is an independent body. Its role is to make recommendations to the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Health, The Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Wales on the remuneration of doctors and dentists playing any part in the National Health Service.

Mr Blair is a QC in independent practice and member of the Competition Commission. He was General Counsel to the Board of the Financial Services Authority from 1998-2000.

The Review Body's recommendations apply to around 140,000 NHS doctors and dentists. The Government announced in December that it had accepted recommendations from the independent pay review bodies for pay increases next year.

Mr Blair's appointment has been welcomed by Health Secretary Alan Milburn.

IiP recognition reaches Rotherham

The Fitzwilliam Dental Practice in Rotherham has received Investor in People recognition.

Pictured from left are Rachael Ferris-Eamer, Dr Robert Kilvington, Pauline Moore, Practice Manager Dr Christine Kilvington and Director of Dental Public Health, Nigel Thomas.

Working towards the standard has contributed to the continuing growth of the centre, which recently won a national award for dental phobia.

Partner Christine Kilvington said, 'Our Investors in People award is recognition that we have invested in our employees to ensure that we can provide the best service possible to our patients.