BDA urges Scottish government to halt ‘flawed’ money recovery exercise

The British Dental Association (BDA) has called on the Scottish government to immediately postpone its efforts to recover money allegedly paid to dental practices because of bureaucratic errors.

A letter from the trade organisation to Scottish ministers has stated that the exercise must be paused due to serious flaws in the data on which the recovery efforts are based, as well as concerns that the move could destabilise some practices, harming the provision of care.

Among the concerns raised by the BDA are the shifting parameters and methodology of the exercise and the ongoing refusal to offer protection to the relatives of deceased practitioners, meaning widows and widowers could be harassed for money.

Pat Kilpatrick, director of the BDA in Scotland, hit out at the Scottish government for imposing a flawed registration system against the advice of those in the profession, before compounding the problems with its current stance.

He added: "We urge it to take the time necessary to address issues with the data before attempting to progress the exercise which, we should not forget, is necessary to address problems of its own making."

The BDA also recently called on the British government to exercise care in its plans to reduce the number of places at which to study dentistry at institutions in England, in order to ensure they are fair on both taxpayers and aspiring dental students.