LDC Confederation representatives were, last week, invited to attend two ministerial roundtables with the Minister for Dentistry, Rt. Hon. Andrea Leadsom MP. A total of nine LDC delegates attended and spoke at these roundtables to provide insight and suggestions to the Department of Health and Social Care on what further short term actions could be taken to improve NHS dental services.
Delegates to the roundtables included Mike Clarke, Chair of the LDC Confederation, Ritesh Gajree (Croydon), Tarik Shembesh (Lewisham), Jeff Sherer (Hillingdon), Nikita Vora (Brent), Kala Sivagurunathan (Islington), Rita Bagga (Harrow), Emilie Szasz (Westminster) and Dharmen Patel (Sutton). These delegates made it clear that while a full reform of the dental contract, negotiated with the British Dental Association, was still the only viable approach to secure NHS dentistry for the future, there were some additional interim measures which could be pursued. Building on their successful engagement with their Integrated Care Board the LDC delegates discussed the application of flexible commissioning in the short term.
The LDC Confederation was very pleased to have this opportunity to explain to the Minister some of the successful local partnership working that LDCs are engaged in and look forward to championing the voice of member LDCs at the national level.
