Hello Lancashire Just a quick update this month; not much happening due to pre election inertia! Purdah over: the Purdah period is now over and we have the Tories back in office - not sure whether this is a good or bad result! How this will affect the NHS and us as dentists we will have to wait and see. There were many promises made during the election period and who knows what to believe from our politicians – nothing new there then! Despite the hullabaloo around a General Election there are still issues we need to keep an eye on and ensure we get the best deal for dentistry when the policies are being developed. It is very difficult producing definitive updates when we are in a period of such shifting sands as we are at present. Please bear with me as I can only report situations as they are presented to me. Central policy and change often happens under the smokescreen of developments seemingly going in the opposite direction! Co-Commissioning: I am keeping this on the agenda because it is an extremely likely development. To remind us all; the co-commissioning agenda is around devolving the strategic commissioning of Primary Dental / Pharmacy / Optom to the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), however, the contract management function is likely to stay with NHS England. CCGs are in many ways just new versions of the PCTs but are very medically focussed. How dental commissioning could devolve down to them is complicated and there are legislative issues at present. The concern for us is that we must keep dentistry on the agenda and ensure we are able to input into strategic policy developments. The best way for this to happen is to ensure that the Local Dental Network has an influence and is able to advise and influence the CCGs in the same way that it has currently in advising the Local Area Team. Moves are already underway to achieve this recognition and establish good relationships with the CCGs. More on this as it progresses. FFT: this was launched from the beginning of April and seems yet again another unremunerated task for practices to undertake. The idea is centrally driven and therefore out of the direct control of the Area Team. Having said that there is plenty of help at hand within the Area Team should you have any problems. Details are on the LDCs' website. CQC Visits: CQC inspections under the new criteria / five-key-questions have begun. Inspections are either random (with two weeks notice of the inspection) or risk based (triggered by a complaint / whistleblowing etc) where only 48 hours notice is given. One of our members has been (randomly) inspected and will hopefully share some insights in the next newsletter. In the meanwhile, please do get in touch if you are advised of an inspection visit. Contact the LDC: please make use of your LDC Exec and feel free to contact us any time. It does not matter which locality you practice in; we will ensure you are put in contact with the appropriate person. You can either email me on bernard@lancashirecoastalldc.co.uk or via Stuart Johnson our Communications Lead on admin@lancashirecoastalldc.co.uk Both Stuart and I pick up emails 24/7 so please feel free to get in touch. Royal mail: why is it that in the grand scheme of things around deliveries we have the commercial firms who simply and easily drop parcels off with the minimum amount of fuss even though the contents can be expensive. On the other hand we have Royal Mail who like to deal-up when delivering items as simple as lint rollers or hairgrips. They come and go in a flurry of discarded elastic bands only to take your minimal value goods back to the depot so you have to go and get it yourself or organise a redelivery! Summer is here? OK so we had a burst of warmer weather for a few days before the Mayday Bank Holiday and in line with normal British tradition I spotted a bloke walking around Blackpool with no shirt on! Are we serious – I would imagine he has put his shirt back on, and a thick woolly jumper, now the weather has turned back to normal. People are also wearing shorts and vests on a regular basis just because it is now May – why don’t they just admit that it is cold? Another summer favourite are those sandals with loads of velcro straps and sporty logos on them. Not recommended for anyone with severe athletes foot due to cross infection issues!! Onwards and upwards! Bernard Bernard Alston Sec Lancs LDC Exec Website News and Updates There are a few updates to the website. LDN Meeting minutes are now viewable from the 'Specialist Networks' page of the Website. Locum and Associates page has been updated, and information is available about the below Training Practice Service. Enhanced Dental Training Practice Service - Request for Information (RFI) process in relation of a proposed procurement of an Enhanced Dental Training Service within the Morecambe/Heysham area. If you are interested, then details / letter from NHS England is available to download from the 'Library' Page of the Website. SHORT DEADLINE - Wednesday 20th May. Associate Wanted - May 2015 An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Associate Dentist to join the innovative and forward thinking wholly private Adelaide Dental Practice located in the heart of Blackpool on a full time or part time basis. The successful Associate needs to be a caring, understanding and experienced dentist who will support and ultimately take over a well-established cohort of loyal patients. Ideally, the successful candidate will have 5 years of post-graduate experience and be looking for a long term commitment. More information, and contact details, are available at http://www.adelaide-dental.co.uk/adelaide-dental-associate-job-opportunity/