Health Secretary announces the start of New Dental Pilots

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Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, has announced that pilot programmes for the new dental contract will begin within the next month.

Speaking at the British Dental Conference, Lansley confirmed that 62 pilot programmes would “go live” within the next four weeks. The pilot programmes are being carried out as part of the change of dental contract, which will see dentists rewarded for the quality of their work, rather than the quantity of treatments they provide.

In total, 62 pilot schemes will be carried out across the country and there are three slightly different models which will be tried and the results of the pilot programmes will be used to shape the new dental contract.

Addressing the crowd of professionals in Manchester, Mr Lansley thanked dentists for their help and contribution during the consultation process. He claimed that many people had been willing to suggest new measures and changes and said that there was a marked difference between the hostile atmosphere surrounding the unveiling of Labour’s dental contract in 2006. Mr Lansley also confirmed that local authorities will help the newly established NHS Commissioning Board to create and develop services which catered for the needs of local people.

The Health Secretary also said that there would be more investment in preventative dental care in the future. Tooth extraction, he said, is the most common cause of children undergoing procedures under general anaesthetic and said that more attention needs to be paid to preventing children from being in this situation.

 

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