The Chief Dental Officer for England, Sara Hurley, has outlined her vision for an integrated oral health and dental care strategy to the profession.
Speaking at the Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK) 2016 Malcolm Pendlebury Memorial Lecture, Ms Hurley called for ‘more joint endeavours – professional, geographic and conceptual’, as well as ‘greater national direction’ over the responsibilities of local NHS offices, and ‘training and support… to ensure that all NHS England Commissioners know what quality oral care looks like’.
She also waded in on contract reform, arguing that it is ‘critical’ for the ‘transition from dental activity to oral health as the desired outcome of the NHS dental service’ to be successful.
The CDO, herself a member of the FGDP (UK), singled out the organisation as a ‘custodian of the standards that set apart the extraordinary from the ordinary’.
She added that her top priority for 2016 was a ‘redesign of the NHS England groups required to assess local need, and design and manage the services in their areas’.
The Malcolm Pendlebury Lecture is held by the FGDP (UK) every two years in honour of one of its founding members.
