2021 Annual Report Dental Care SIG
Activities:
Due to COVID, all activities of the SIG during 2021 have been online. Two meetings were held attended by 6 participants, and various email discussions have taken place among the wider group. The focus has been on providing support for colleagues across this small and often isolated clinical academic discipline, including in relation to employment issues. The career pathway for academic GDPs is still embryonic and SIG members have been working with the newly established College of General Dentistry (CGDent was established following separation of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners from the Royal College of Surgeons of England) to clarify this pathway.
During the year, it was confirmed that academic GDPs are equivalent to academic GPs, in relation to terms and conditions of employment in NIHR posts. This had caused a philosophical problem for some senior dental academics in Health Education England and the dental schools as they felt GDPs were not equivalent as there is no CCST for GDPs. However, following a query to University of Manchester (supported formally by the British Dental Association and informally by colleagues from SAPC), the terms and conditions for the NIHR Clinical Lecturer in primary dental care post was regraded onto the pre-2003 consultant pay scale.
In addition, the SIG has aimed to raise the profile of this discipline within wider clinical academic processes, including formally responding to the ACCEA consultation about reform of the Clinical Excellence Awards and lobbying other dental professional bodies to ensure academic primary dental care was covered.
Collaborative work with other SIGs includes production of a consensus statement on mental health and dentistry, led by Carolyn Chew Graham.
Future plans:
- Further meetings in 2022 to continue to support and draw in academics from across primary dental care.
- Continue with coordination of the SIG’s work on academic primary dental care by liaising with relevant dental groups (CGDent, NIHR CSGs).