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Dental commentator to lobby MPs over CQC
11th Oct 2010
A dental plan expert has joined the chorus of opposition to the Care Quality Commission's regulation of dentistry.
And DPAS chairman, Quentin Skinner, will use this year's Dental Showcase to publicise the campaign which is already gaining momentum amongst DPAS client practices, all of whom have received a questionnaire aimed at gauging the level of support in the profession.
Early response to the questionnaire has been very encouraging with 100% backing for the stance being adopted by Mr Skinner.
He says that while appreciating that the CQC is a 'welcome initiative to areas of health provision that are as yet unregulated', he is encouraging the profession to come together with the aim of making the public much more aware of the extra cost and the reduced access that registration will bring to dentistry.
Together with colleagues from the Dental Law Partnership, who conducted a detailed analysis of the requirements for registration, Quentin concludes there is 'no evidence that the existing regulatory mechanism allows unsafe delivery of dental care, nor is there evidence that the existing regulation puts patient care at risk'.
The analysis has demonstrated that the introduction of CQC regulation of the dental profession will result in widespread duplication of existing areas of regulation placing an unnecessary administrative and financial burden on both practitioners and the CQC themselves, which will result in a significant waste of resources.
He says: 'We have concluded that the additional burden of the proposed CQC registration and CQC regulation of individual dental professionals amounts to substantial duplication of the existing regulation of the dental profession and is not, on a balance of probabilities, likely to produce any significant improvement either in patient safety or treatment outcomes.'
He is now calling on practitioners to register their disquiet by signing a petition that will be available on the DPAS stand (R01) at this week's Dental Showcase.
He hopes it will provide demonstrable evidence of the support of these views which he can take to a meeting with the chairman of the parliamentary health committee, scheduled for later this month.
For more information on the campaign, visit Stand R01 or call 01747 870910.
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