• The Department of Health minister Earl Howe has been confirmed to speak at this year's British Dental Conference and Exhibition in Manchester. Addressing the conference on the morning of Friday 27 April, Earl Howe will provide delegates with an insight into the Government's vision for the future of dental services. Delegates will have the opportunity to put questions to the Minister, with topics such as the new dental contract and the commissioning of dental services likely to top the agenda.

  • The BDA has warned that proposed cuts to Health Service dentistry in Northern Ireland are wholly unacceptable and would be catastrophic for practitioners' capacity to provide Health Service care. Dr Peter Crooks, Chair of the BDA's Northern Ireland Dental Practice Committee, has written to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to warn the cuts it is proposing to dental services would exacerbate the funding problems already confronting dental practices, and represent a fundamental change to the contract under which dentists work. The proposals also appear to jeopardise the long-running negotiations for a new dental contract. Proposed cuts include changes to eligibility for the higher rate of practice allowance, the removal of commitment payments, a scaling back of Health Service treatment to a core service, and the introduction of a time bar of 12 months on scaling and polishing.