Some updates for the year ahead – Pam Swain
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 13th April 2018
BADN is always looking for ways to improve our engagement with dental nurses and we are pleased to announce our new BADN Facebook page.
This will now be the main source of news, updates from the world of dentistry and other relevant organisations, such as the GDC and Oral Health Foundation, and other material regarding the benefits of BADN membership, special offers, and so on. Please head over to www.facebook.com/ BADNUK and ‘like’ our new page.
(Our Facebook Group will remain a closed group, used for discussions and queries – membership of the Group is by request and subject to BADN approval.)
GDC launches two new consultations
The GDC has launched a consultation on a proposed new policy that defines a different approach to setting fees. The proposals aim to better explain how and why funds are used, to be clearer about how costs are allocated and to provide more certainty about the level of fee registrants can expect to pay. This is a consultation about the mechanisms for setting fee levels rather than the about the fee levels themselves.
In 2017, the GDC launched ‘Shifting the Balance’, which set out its views on reforming dental regulation. In that, it said it would work towards a new way of setting fees that would reflect a new approach to regulation and this consultation is a step towards fulfilling that commitment. The proposed new policy is based around three main principles:
• Fee levels should be determined primarily by the cost of regulating each registrant group;
• The method of calculating fee levels should be clear;
• Decisions on the allocation of costs should not lead to undesirable outcomes (e.g. in the form of unacceptably high or variable costs for some groups of registrants).
The consultation is available now at gdc-uk.org/about/what-we-do/consultations and is open until 15 May 2018.
The second GDC consultation is on proposed changes to the way it quality assures education and training leading to registration for dental professionals, is seeking to use its resources more efficiently, supporting education and training providers to drive improvements in dental education. The proposals seek to replace a ‘one size fits all’ approach, instead utilising several factors to shape the scope and frequency of activity. Among these factors will be an assessment of a future professional’s scope of practice; an education provider’s past performance; management of issues and challenges they are facing; and an annual self-assessment.
Another proposed change to inspection activity is the introduction of an enhanced annual self-assessment submission. This will require training and education providers to feedback on an array of topics, including: successes, challenges and a progress report against actions required.
BADN will be responding formally to both consultations and encourages all dental nurses to read the proposals and to respond individually.
To find out more about the consultations, or to respond, visit: www.gdc-uk.org/about/ what-we-do/consultations
Dates for the diary
March
16 Copy date for Spring 2018 BDNJ
April
27-28 Scottish Dentistry Show
May
Spring 2018 edition of British
Dental Nurses’ Journal published
10 BADN XC meeting
17-19 Dentistry Show/BDA Conference,
NEC Birmingham
