Barry Cockcroft Chief Dental Officer - England BSDHT Annual Conference 9 November 2012
The Potential for a Greater Role in Service Delivery for Dental Care Professionals
What is a Workforce For? To meet the needs of the service - and hence the population - and these have changed - and are continuing to change
UK Figure year olds Oral Health
Epidemiology 70% 5 year olds now caries free 70% 12 year olds now caries free 71% adults no active caries (ADHS 2009)
The Population People are - living longer - with more teeth - with drier mouth - this points to a greater focus on older people in the future.
A greater focus on prevention for older people and a greater focus on the maintenance of periodontal health The Future ALL THIS POINTS TO GREATER POTENTIAL FOR WIDER USE OF DCPs
New Contract for NHS Focused on outcomes Prevention key to outcomes 63% increase in fluoride varnish in children, all practices, not just pilots Pilots themselves want to change their skill mix
Remuneration “There is no good way of paying a dentist but the three worst are item of service, capitation and salary.” Current pilots – combination of capitation and quality But good dentists will always do the right thing irrespective of the payment mechanism and the contractual framework should support this.
Dentists will be more leaders of teams in the long term! Probably fewer dentists and more DCPs
Scope of Practice GDC issue - current consultation Direct access Education - to support new roles - define - business - team working
Workforce Don’t tackle todays problems with yesterday’s workforce HENSE review of undergraduate numbers DPB report on skill mix - Published 17 May 2011
Questions