Steele must not become political football

In an opinion piece for the BDA’s website, General Dental Practice Committee chair John Milne reiterates the broad professional consensus behind Steele piloting and argues the general election must not derail the process. John also calls on dentists across England to help in getting this message across by talking to prospective parliamentary candidates where they practise to highlight the importance of meaningful piloting.

In his column John is critical of the short timeframe for dentists to express their interest in participating in the first wave of pilots for the reforms, branding the start ‘inauspicious’. But he offers a more positive verdict on the process more generally, pointing to the development of the working groups to oversee different streams of the review process and the inclusion of general dental practitioners and colleagues in salaried services on those groups.