An action list for the new CDO

The Chief Dental Officer for England and Wales, Mr Barry Cockroft CBE recently announced his impending retirement after many years of gallant service, and the Department of Health are presently seeking his replacement. The new CDO will have the opportunity to take a fresh look at things, as anyone taking up a new position should do, so what will be on his or her checklist?

First, in my view, the new new new contract. The so-called Steele Report¹ was published in 2009 and was critical of the Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) system for remuneration of NHS dentists in England and Wales, yet, almost six years on, NHS dentists are still wrestling with this. Many dentists have walked with their feet, either into the private sector or north of the Border. The pilots which were initiated – because of the correctly-held view that a new system should be tried out prior to implementation (which UDAs were not!), have been extended at least twice and, with the election in May of this year approaching, there will be a backlog of things to sort out for the new Government and it looks likely that, unless robust action is taken by the new CDO, the new payment system might not be implemented until 2017 at the earliest. This is too long since the Steel Report findings were published. The new CDO must, with urgency, assimilate the knowledge that has been gained from the pilots thus far, draw a line in the sand, and get the new new new dentists' contract up and running at the earliest opportunity. Changing the patient Oral Health Assessment to one which is more manageable in terms of data collection and less time consuming should be part of this.