Dear colleague, We will be holding an LDC meeting via Zoom on
Monday 21st March 2022, beginning at 6pm.
I will be sending the agenda and joining details in due course.
Coronavirus Restrictions
You may have questions about any immediate implications of the Government’s announcement yesterday regarding the lifting of coronavirus restrictions. For the time being the UKHSA’s infection prevention control guidelines and the NHS Standard Operating Procedure remain in place. Until further notice, practices should continue to operate on that basis, and as detailed in the last contractual notice of 22 December: (https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2021/12/C1462-key-steps-in-2022-to-deliver-for-patients-in-NHS-dentistry-december-2021.pdf).
£50m urgent care funding Q&As - myth-busting
On 25 January, NHS England announced an additional £50m funding allocation focused on urgent care, to be spent by the end of March 2022. Since then, general practices and community services have been invited by commissioners to express an interest in providing care under this allocation. There has been uncertainty around the terms and processes to be applied for teams to access the funding and the BDA have raised several questions with NHS England. They have produced a series of questions and answers to seek to address some of these questions being raised.
We have also received guidance from the Commissioners regarding:
Children’s oral health; a request for help from Urshla (Oosh) Devalia As the recently appointed Paediatric Dentistry MCN Chair for the East of England, I am reaching out to all oral healthcare professionals who have an interest in children’s oral health, with an opportunity to influence Paediatric Dentistry services within our region. This is the first time that a dedicated Managed Clinical Network for paediatric dentistry has been acknowledged within the East of England, and gives us a chance to influence services, develop pathways and address the inequalities that exist for children and young people within the region where there are limited/no commissioned services to address children’s oral health. I would be grateful if you could please forward this message to colleagues who you feel may be interested in joining the network and encourage them to respond so that we get a wide range of views and experience. The opportunity to contribute is not limited to dentists and would welcome interest from wider members of the oral healthcare team. Without this valuable input, the lack of services for this patient group will continue. We want to ensure our region provides expert oral health care for children and young people, serviced by those with the right skills and knowledge to manage these challenging patients, whilst ensuring the highest quality of care is delivered close to the patients’ home. The commitment to the Paediatric MCN consists of quarterly meetings, where active participation will be required. We require passionate individuals who can work closely with the network to ensure we influence change that is well overdue within the East of England. Please could I ask for the expressions of interest to be submitted to: urshla.devalia@nhs.net with a statement of support (no more than 300 words) as to why you would like to be involved in the network (please use this Expression of Interest form link here). Closing date: Monday 28th February. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. Urshla (Oosh) Devalia (Consultant Paediatric Dentist) Exceptional circumstances: COVID related staff absenceDetails of a temporary addition to the exceptional circumstances process were set out in a communication to the profession on 13 January 2022. NHS regional commissioning teams have subsequently cascaded this to their dental contractors. The template for the submission of exceptional circumstances as a result of COVID related staff absence is available from the NHS BSA website. Contractors should submit the notification template to the NHS BSA team: nhsbsa.dentalcases@nhs.net, copying their NHS regional commissioning team. Submissions should also be made in relation to NHS patient care lost as a result of the impact of COVID on non-clinical members of practice staff. The NHS has committed to providing further guidance on the year-end reconciliation process for 2021-22. The usual process for exceptional circumstances will run in parallel with the additional process for Covid-related staff absence. The process for claiming dental relief under the contract's force majeure provisions is outlined in the NHS dental policy handbook (p. 147-8). In accordance with the usual process, contractors are required to submit a preliminary notification within five days of the circumstance arising (or as soon as possible thereafter) to the NHS BSA (nhsbsa.dentalcases@nhs.net) and to copy their regional commissioning team, using the table in Annex 84 of the NHS policy handbook as a template for the notification Please also see the minutes of the Essex LDN Meeting (25/10/2021) + Advancing Dental Care - Malcolm Brady (Regional Deputy Dental Dean, HEE): https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/advancing-dental-care + Happy Smile Harlow Evaluation from Samantha Glover (Dental Public Health Program Manager, PHE) Kind regards, Clint Foreman (Asst. Sec. Essex LDC)