New chair of the GDPC appointed

A new chair of the General Dental Practice Committee at the British Dental Association has been appointed. Dave Cottam, an oral surgery specialist and former vice chair of the GDPC, will take over from Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen.
Mr Overgaard-Nielsen, said: “I have worked as an NHS dentist for over 20 years with people from all over the world, both from inside and outside the EU. At one point we had staff from more than 13 countries. And that’s without counting the different countries from which our 130,000 patients come. Working with different people enriches your life and it is important that after leaving the EU we can still get the workforce from abroad we need. For this we need a system which allows immigration, but which makes sure we get the immigration we need.”
Mr Cottam said: “It is a privilege to serve as chair of the GDPC, and to give a voice to over 30,000 colleagues in high street practice. We need a paradigm shift in the way NHS dentistry is delivered across the country. I have already stressed the urgency on contracts directly to the new team at the Department of Health and Social Care. We cannot allow the pedestrian pace of reform in both England and Wales to continue failing our patients. But colleagues across the UK in NHS, mixed and private practice are all under pressure. We cannot simply wait and react to the latest blow. Our duty is to make change happen for GDPs.”