NHS?Dentistry?UK? what is it all about? Dental Practice : RxBDS

It is true that the Uk is in dire shortage of dentists. It is a politically explosive issue here and the health minister has announced in the British parliament that 1000 new dentists will be recruited into the NHS primary care service before October 2005. This process has already started. They have identified three main sources of dentists. The first preference is for dentists who are nationals of the EU and who have obtained their BDS degree from the EU. Secondly they have increased the number of seats in the BDS courses in UK universities by 25% this will mean about 200 new graduates every year from 2010 onwards. Thirdly they are trying to recruit dentists from countries like India.

In order to understand the position of Indian dentists in the UK it is necessary to have a bit of background knowledge about the entire system. I will try and explain this in a brief manner.

Dental services in the UK are provided by 2 main sectors. The most common and widely used sector is NHS dentistry. NHS dentistry is divided into General Dental Practitioners(GDPs) who provide primary care and Hospital services who provide Accident & Emergency services and specialist referral services. In addittion to providing NHS treatment, GDPS are also allowed to treat patients on a private basis for a higher fee. The other sector is fully private practioners, but they are extremely few.

While NHS is the employer for dentists in the UK, the General Dental Council (GDC) is the registration authority for all dentists in the UK. Registration with the GDC is mandatory in order to practise dentistry in the UK. Now there are 2 types of registration, Full registration allows the dentists to work anywhere in the UK in private or NHS dentistry. In order to obtain full registration an Indian dentist has to pass all three parts of the IQE. The second type of registration is Temporary registration. This registration allows a dentist to work in certain approved hospitals as Senior House Officers (SHO) ,clinical assistants and in certain research positions. This Temporary registration is valid only for 4 years. Temporary registration does not allow a dentist to work in the general dental service or private practice. In order to obtain temporary registration an Indian dentist has to apply for and obtain employement in one of these approved posts. Once the offer of employment is given temporary registration will normally be given. Most of the posts available to Indian dentists are in OMFS.

Till last year most Indian dentists used the temporary registration route to work and support themselves in the UK. Once they started working, most of them applied for the IQE and passed it thereby obtaining full registration. However these posts are very limited and off late since many Indian dentists are applying for these posts it has become very diffcult to obtain one. Some applicants have tried to improve their applications by passing one or more parts of the MFDS ( nowadays some job advertisements even put this as a requirement). The main problem for Indian dentists is that many hospitals require the applicant to appear for interviews in person. Many Indian dentist come to the Uk on a six month tourist visa and apply for these posts. However in todays scenario it could take anything upto a year of continuous applying and interviewing before a job can be obtained. So alot of them have to return back to India after six months without a job and having spent a small fortune. This is why you might have heard that situation for Indian dentists is pathetic.

However if current events are an indicator then the situation can improve. The GDC is planning to conduct the IQE in India soon and if this is done then indian dentists can appear for the exam in India and try and obtain full registration before landing in the UK. This will vastly improve their employability in the UK since they are not restricted to certain posts. The chief dental officer of England and Wales, Professor Raman Bedi held seminars in India last month and he made a few annoucements. I have been told by some people who attended it that he offered positions in the NHS General Dental Service (primary care) for people who have cleared IQE part A. I dont know if this is true. As per current GDC regulations people who have not passed all three parts of the IQE can only work in posts approved for temporary registration and definitely not in primary care. So there is some confusion in that regard. I dont know if the regulations have been changed, and if they have been changed they have not been published yet.

My advice to any Indian dentist is to clarify their positions thoroughly before planning to come to the UK. It is always a good idea to put in an application to the GDC for the IQE. There is no cost involved and there is no obligation to come to the UK at any given time. There is a long waiting list for this exam and the sooner you apply the better. Currently there is a 4-6 mth waiting period before you get a part A date. The good news is that the NHS needs Indian dentists to work in primary care so therefore they have to make close to 1000 people pass all three parts of the IQE before Ocotber 2005 (they have already increased the capacity in the UK centres for the IQE) or they have to change the rules in order to allow dentists to work in Primary care without full registration.The situation is extremely fluid right now.

Note: The author is a dentist from India currently preparing for IQE part C and is currently residing in UK. The author is willing to answer queries regarding the IQE exams.You can post your queries here: http://www.rxbds.com/postt60.html

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