21st August 2015
- New NHS dental statistics reveal a decade of inertia
- NICE issues guidance for doctors and dentists to tackle antimicrobial resistance
- RCS sets out position on clinical trials transparency
New NHS dental statistics reveal a decade of inertia
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) published the annual NHS dental statistics for England 2014/15 yesterday that showed around half of adults and one third of children have not seen an NHS dentist in the past two years. These figures have barely changed over the last decade.
Professor Nigel Hunt, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS), said in a statement: "This data reveals a decade of inertia in access to dentistry… It is appalling that tooth decay remains the most common reason why five-to-nine year olds are admitted to hospital; in some cases for multiple tooth extractions under general anaesthetic – despite tooth decay being almost entirely preventable." He also urged the Government to take action to review access to NHS dental services, and improve public awareness on the importance of regularly visiting a dentist. The Dean’s comments were covered by The Telegraph, the Daily Mail, and The Independent.
NICE issues guidance for doctors and dentists to tackle antimicrobial resistance
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has called for a new approach to antimicrobial stewardship across the NHS, in response to rising resistance to antimicrobial treatment, and increasing antimicrobial prescribing.
The new NICE guidance centres on ensuring that the right antibiotic is prescribed at the right dose at the right time for patients to avoid the development of antibiotic-resistant infections. It also warns that the overuse of antibiotics may lead to an inability to fight infections that are currently treatable with antibiotics. The RCS website has a set of resources on these issues that are relevant to surgeons.
Professor Mark Baker, Director for the NICE Centre for Clinical Practice, promotes a peer review approach, saying: "One recommendation is for an open and transparent environment in which doctors can assess local prescribing rates and question colleagues if these are not in line with local or national guidelines". Controversially he also suggested that there may be sanctions for GPs who fail to adhere to the guidance.
RCS sets out position on clinical trials transparency
The RCS recently joined the AllTrials campaign and published a statement setting out its position on clinical trials transparency in response to findings that half of clinical trials, including a third of surgical trials, are not published. The statement was accompanied by a blog post from Professor Derek Alderson, Vice President of the RCS.
Well-designed clinical trials are arguably the most effective means of determining the efficacy and side effects of a medical intervention. Trial findings are therefore the main information source on which treatment decisions are based. Publication of only a subset of all clinical trials can bias these decisions to the detriment of patient care.
Therefore the RCS expects all researchers conducting trials, including those supported by the College, directly or indirectly, to take the following steps:
- Register the trial in a publicly accessible trial database
- Submit for publication the trial’s full study report
- Share anonymised participant-level trial datasets where appropriate to facilitate ancillary research and independent reanalysis of results
- Provide continuity of access to data if a trial is discontinued
The College has been instrumental in establishing a UK-wide network of Surgical Trials Centres, and funds around 30 surgical trainees annually to participate in research through the RCS Research Fellowship scheme.