Welsh dentists told to throw away millions of unused bilingual papers
Dentists in Wales have been instructed to throw away millions of unused bilingual papers in a bid to improve efficiency and increase storage.
Forms in Wales currently come with either Welsh or English instructions and the forms are A5 size; the new forms will now be A4 size with a perforated strip across the middle of the page; one half will be in English and the other half will be in Welsh. The dentist will simply tear the form, give the relevant half to the patient and then dispose of the other half in line with local waste removal policy.
All dentists in Wales have received a letter from Mark Welsby, from the Health and Social Services Directorate General, stating that the new forms will be introduced on the 19th July in order to maximise storage.
Currently, over two million NHS dental procedures are carried out each year in Wales and a form must be completed by the patient each time they receive treatment of any kind; this means there is a huge amount of papers lying in dental surgeries across the country.
The plans have already angered some dentists, with some saying that the introduction of a new form is a waste of money when half of the form is just going to be thrown away. Representatives from the Welsh Assembly said that they are committed to promoting the use of the Welsh language and will continue to preserve and protect the language. The NHS therefore has a duty to comply with the regulations on the use of the Welsh language set out by the Assembly.
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