Welcome to NHS England North West – Dental Professionals Hub

 Greater Manchester, Cheshire & Merseyside, and Lancashire & South Cumbria ICB areas.

We are the NHS England North West Professional Standards Team. We cover Greater Manchester, Cheshire & Merseyside, and Lancashire & South Cumbria ICB areas.

This information will provide you with some useful information and links.

What does NHS England do?

NHS England is a decision maker and approves applications, removals, and suspensions from the Performers Lists. We are also responsible for management of practitioners’ performance under Performers List Regulations.

Important Platforms:

PCSE (Primary Care Support England)

Collates information for performers list applications. Provides the portal for performers to keep their personal information up to date. It is a regulatory requirement that you keep your information up to date.

https://secure.pcse.england.nhs.uk

GDC (General Dental Council):

Dental professionals must maintain their registration and keep their information up to date gdc-uk.org

NHS Business Services Authority:

General Dental Practitioners can use NHS BSA Compass Portal to obtain information about NHS work and payment. Once included on the Performer List and have been given a Performer number, you will be able to sign up for access to the Compass Dental Portal, from which you will be able to view and download monthly statements of your NHS work output.

NHSBSA helpline 0300 330 1348

nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-dental-services

British Dental Association (BDA):

Support options including:

• Self-care and mental health,
• Managing stress in dentistry
• Addiction and recovering from addiction
• Support with complaints anxiety
• Identifying and overcoming stress
• Financial and emotional support.

bda.org/about-the-bda/campaigns/stress

Concerns & complaints:

The Professional Standards Team considers concerns raised to NHS England. Concerns may be raised via a number of routes: through the complaints process, from the regulatory body (GDC) and directly from, patients, partners, and colleagues.

The Framework for Managing Performance Concerns can be found at the link: england.nhs.uk/publication/framework-for-managing-performer-concerns/

The team see many concerns and have a lot of experience in helping performers through a stressful period. The aim is that concerns are managed in a supportive manner.

Service for support:

NHS Practitioner Health Service – The NHS Practitioner Health Service supports mental health, including stress. This is not an Occupational Health service; it is a treatment service and is offered to dentists and optometrists as well as GP’s. To contact this service please visit practitionerhealth.nhs.uk or call 0300 0303 300.

Occupational Health – NHS England can arrange an occupational health assessment. Where this is required, please contact the Professional Performance Team to discuss your requirements.

NHS Resolution – provide expertise to the NHS on resolving concerns and disputes fairly, sharing learning for improvement and preserving resources for patient care.

Sick Doctors Trust – The Sick Doctor Trust provides support and help to doctors, dentists and medical students who are concerned about their use of drugs and alcohol. Please use the following website sick-doctors-trust.co.uk or call 0370 444 5163.

The Dentists Health Support Trust (DHST) – offers advice and support for dental professionals affected by addiction and mental health: 0207 224 4671.

Dental Practitioner Advice and Support Scheme – DPASS provides assistance to dental practitioners who feel in need of peer support. Practitioners can be referred to the scheme by a regulator, or self-refer – dpass.online/contact-us/

Your Local Dental Committees (LDC) – represents you at a local level. Your levy which you will see on your monthly schedule provides representation as dental services evolve and professional support in practice relations. The committee also provides a forum where you can meet colleagues and helps fund national negotiations and many of the professional support services.

You can find your local dental committee here – bda.org/dentists/governance-and-representation/craft-committees/General-dental-practitioners/Pages/Local-Dental-Committees.aspx

You must get in touch with NHS England if:

– You become subject to a GDC investigation (or any other regulatory body).

– You become subject to investigation by a current or previous employer or the NHSBSA.

– If you are refused inclusion, have conditions imposed, suspended from, or removed from any equivalent list elsewhere.

– You are convicted of a criminal offence in the UK (or elsewhere) or accept a police caution.

– You have conditions imposed or are suspended or removed from the GDC register.

– You resign from the GDC register.

– If you have not provided services as a performer for 12 months or more. Under the Performers List Regulations, you can be removed from the Performers List for non-activity, however, this is not a given, and we would rather discuss options with you.

This is an abbreviated list. For the full list of notifications please see regulation 9 of The National Health Service (Performers Lists) (England) Regulations 2013 (legislation.gov.uk).

If there is a concern around practitioner performance, NHSE will provide support and guidance to ensure patient safety and practitioner wellbeing is maintained.

Contracting queries:

Contracting is now managed within ICS teams. If you have a query relating to contracting, please contact your local team: Find your local integrated care board (ICB) – NHS (nhs.uk).

NHSE North West teams & contact details:

Performers List Team – for applications, movements, and queries regarding the National Performers List (North West) – england.nwperformerslist@nhs.net

Professional Performance Team – support with concerns relating to practitioner performance – england.northwestproffessionalstandards@nhs.net

Dental Advisers – we have a small team of advisers who work for us and are available to offer clinical advice if needed.

Please contact our advisers via our Performers List Team – england.nwperformerslist@nhs.net