Bernard's News Hello Lancashire For this edition I would like to take the opportunity to update on the form and function of the Routine Care Network (RCN) following the first meeting of the full group on Monday 18th November. There was a good turn out from those who initially put their names forward and there was a healthy discussion around a number of subjects following a presentation on the current network arrangements from Local Dental Network Chair Eric Rooney. Details of the members of the RCN will be posted on the website in a week or two. Phil Gale attends the RCN as LDC Rep and I attend as Acting Appraisal Lead. The function of the Routine Care Network is to input from grass roots level and provide clinical advice and guidance into the commissioning direction of the Local Area Team (LAT) for Lancashire. Outcomes from the RCN will feed into the main group, the Local Dental Network (LDN) for sign off from a clinical perspective prior to going to the Contract and Commissioning Group at the LAT for final authorisation. The RCN is one of a number of networks that sits under and reports to the LDN; details of this structure will be posted on the website soon. One key factor to remember from now on is that all strategic thinking has to be on a County Wide footprint with some occasional local variation. There are three main areas for consideration for the RCN and they are
Access: across the county the main pockets of access issues centre around both Blackpool and Morecambe. Schemes are being worked up to address these issues and the RCN is having input into this process.
Quality: appraisal is part of this and will hopefully be up and running soon. The RCN are working in smaller groups to identify methods of ensuring quality in practice with the limited resources available.
Prevention in Primary Care (linking in with the Preventive Network): the scheme underpinning the delivery of Prevention across a number of settings is the Smile4Life Programme. This has been running across some parts of the county in nursery and pre-school settings but the intention is to roll out the scheme to other areas and other settings. The development of this will fall to the Preventive Network but it will be essential to link in to General Dental Practice to ensure full coverage and consistency of the messages going out.
We will feedback on developments as they are formalised and as always details will be posted on the website. Just one more thing: facebook is a much used social media that is commonplace within many households – for me it seems like a total waste of time that people will go on to it to say things like “just having my tea” or “just putting the washer on.” I do not subscribe to any social media because I can find much better things to do with my time however Mrs A does go on it occasionally and the other day said to me “ I am going to put your name in (BA)to see what it comes up with and low and behold there is a Bernard Alston on facebook. In 50 or so years I have never come across anyone with the same name as me until then. The facebook Bernard Alston is an odd job man from Padiham!! REMEMBER – “KEEP IN TOUCH” REGISTER WITH THE WEBSITE Onwards and Upwards Bernard Sec Lancs LDC Exec Blackpool Milk Fluoridation Scheme Blackpool LA are considering the implementation of a fluoride milk scheme in its primary schools to improve the dental health of its children. To support the process, public health colleagues have asked the dental public health team to produce a FAQ and answers for GDPs. They will include information on some of the issues raised by the LDC such as the footprint of the scheme and how the scheme relates to the use of other modes of fluoride by practitioners. They want to make ensure they capture and include all questions and answers that practitioners will find helpful. and would therefore be grateful for your questions and input. I will collate the questions / responses and pass those on; and of course the information will be posted on the website when it becomes available (I'll let everyone know when that happens, in this newsletter) Please email admin@lancashirecoastalldc.co.uk Stuart Website Update Assorted updates to the website this week, come and take a look! As always, if you're having any issues accessing the website please just email me admin@lancashirecoastalldc.co.uk Stuart