Successful conference

Sara’s presentation, entitled ‘Update of Oral Surgery Commissioning in England’, outlined what the new NHS England commissioning guidelines would mean for oral surgeons and their patients.

The guidelines have been welcomed by members of the BAOS who hope they will result in better parity of care and patient safety across the country. They are hopeful the guidelines will allow commissioners to focus on more than the cost of services and as a result patients will be seen more quickly and receive a greater consistency of care – ending what some in healthcare refer to as a ‘postcode lottery’.

A total of 375 delegates attended the successful conference held at Manchester Town Hall from September 23-25. This was the Association’s 12^th annual conference and organisers welcomed a wide range of delegates from trainees starting their careers to consultants.

Subjects covered by the speakers ranged from legal considerations, patient safety and the need for surgical care following conflict or natural disasters, to papers on medical specialities including the treatment of bariatric patients, interventional radiology in salivary gland disease and an update on the latest guidance for oral surgery in diabetic patients.