Peter Dyer has been re-elected as the chair of the British Dental Association’s Central Committee for Hospital Dental Services (CCHDS).
He will now be chair for the 2018/2020 triennium, being first elected in 2015.
Peter was appointed consultant in oral and maxillofacial surgery to the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust in 1998 with a special interest in trauma and orthognathics.
He has worked as the medical director for the trust and is the responsible officer for overseeing the appraisal and revalidation of medical staff.
‘Significant challenges’
‘The profession is currently facing significant challenges, not least the new trainee contract needs to be implemented fairly, and ditto any changes to the consultant contract,’ Peter said.
‘It’s frustrating too that the long-recognised need to create a no-blame culture in hospitals, akin to the airline industry, has been undermined by the questionable handling by all those involved in the Bawa Garba case.
‘How long more do we have to wait for a culture that promotes learning from mistakes rather than penalising individuals for systemic failures that place patients at risk?
‘Let us hope that this sad case will be a tipping point and we will start to see a paradigm shift in attitudes and behaviours of regulators.
‘It’s also unclear how hospital dental departments will be affected when the latest model for commissioning services – Integrated Care Systems (formerly called the Sustainability and Transformation Plans) – comes into play.
‘Health Education England’s proposals to radically change the way dentists are trained have not only set alarm bells ringing in the dental community, they also fail to consider the knock-on effects to hospital dental services and the patients we serve.
‘Our committee will also be working hard to address the anomalous routes for entry to the GDC’s specialist register for clinicians who have not undertaken formal training.
‘The regulator’s current process is not as transparent as the GMC’s for the medical and surgical specialties.’
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