Blog

• Leah Farrell

If so that’s great but if not why not take part in next year’s Local Dental Committee (LDC) Conference, and tell us what you’d like to see help make some positive changes.

You can speak for your profession and be part of a movement for change.

My name is Leah Farrell and I am the chair of the next LDC Conference and I’m very much looking forward to next year’s event – which is going to be in Brighton, 4-5 June 2020 at the Grand Hotel. 

Conference 2020 promises to build on the work of recent conferences where delegates enthusiastically put forward innovative ideas for improving our professional lives. Hundreds of dentists from all over the UK will gather to meet new friends and form networks to further their careers.

I am particularly passionate about the issue of stress in our profession – it seems to be getting worse and I’m hearing stories of people feeling isolated and burnt out. We can all play a part in tackling this problem and I would like to place an emphasis on how we as LDCs can help each other when times get tough. 

The demographic of our workforce is changing, there are now more women than men entering the profession, and the standard career path of working as an associate and then buying a practice is changing. 

We need to hear the voices of as wide a spectrum of the profession as possible. This year conference passed a motion encouraging all LDCs to change their constitution to allow the co-option of two young dentists. 

This allows newcomers to join the LDC without having to worry about gathering votes, and gives them a way of meeting colleagues and to then get voted on to LDC as full member the next voting round.

A model LDC constitution can be found here. 

Any issues you feel strongly about can be debated and could well direct the policy of other key stakeholders, including your representatives on the General Dental Practice Committee.

This year we will be producing a quick guide to existing GDPC policy, so you can easily see what GDPC is already working on and help you to come up with new ideas and direction for change, that can have a real impact. 

We will keep you updated with progress on the programme for 2020 soon, but in the meantime, I call on LDCs to reach out to the younger dentists in their patch – please help support them and encourage them to get more involved. More information about LDC Conference is available on the website.



Leah Farrell, LDC Conference Chair

• Vijay Sudra

It was great to see such a diversity of people and opinions at this year's LDC Conference in Birmingham, and I'd like to thank all those who attended and took part in the debates.

We were really pleased to see so many new faces and younger dentists attending and getting engaged, as LDCs are about our future, as well as what is happening now. 

If you missed it, take a look at our round-up on Twitter.

Thirty four motions were submitted by LDCs, twenty-nine passed, many unanimously. The slow process of contract reform and providing support for dentists experiencing stress were themes that took centre stage at conference, once again. 

A motion calling for a minimum UDA value of £25 was passed unanimously. During the debate, delegates heard that those involved in the contract reform pilots in Wales were already receiving this rate and their counterparts in England were seeking parity.

Delegates also voted unanimously for greater mental health support for dentists to be made available now and funded by all the health services across the UK. 

Many representatives expressed concerns in a debate about the costs associated with the gradual phasing down and withdrawal of amalgam, which are expected to be borne by dentists. There was unanimous support for a motion calling on Department of Health and Social Care to fund in full all the additional costs incurred with in this process, both in the short and long-term. 

Conference also supported a motion calling for equity between the CQC rates paid by corporates and general dental practitioners on the high street. They voted unanimously for an end to the single owner subsidy.

Delegates rejected calls from Cornwall LDC that the General Dental Practice Committee should adopt a view that NHS dentistry should only be funded for community and hospital services.

The escalation of dental charges in England, relative to Wales, was also raised amid concerns that these were masking cuts in state funding, as well as unjust. 

A call to ensure that all LDCs hold open meetings were passed, to ensure that everyone who pays the levy has an opportunity to be present. I was also pleased to see a motion passed that LDCs amend their constitutions to allow the co-opting of two young dentists to be able to attend LDC Conference.

A motion calling on the General Dental Practice Committee and the BDA to embark upon robust diversity monitoring of all representative structures, and to work to address the barriers to participation and pay disparity was also great to see. This is something I know 2020 Conference Chair Leah Farrell is passionate about and will be working on over the next year.

Delegates heard that band 1 charges are 58% more for patients in England than in Wales and there was a variance of £70 in band 3 charges between the two nations. There was unanimous support for a motion calling on the National Audit Office to investigate the disproportionate rise in charges in England.

Leading health economist, Stephen Tidman held delegates' attention during a presentation on the consequences the cash-limited dental budget in England that has not only reduced the access for patients but also the numbers of dentists that provide NHS care. 

They also received presentations from Marco Mazevet of the French Dental Association on dental contracts in France and Paul Batchelor on the different models of state-funded dentistry across Europe.

Copies of presentations may be found here, Conference footage and full details of motions passed will be posted shortly.

If you have any queries following this event please contact Fiona Feltham, Events Manager (020 7563 6876, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )

I'm now handing over the reins of LDC Conference Chair to Leah Farrell, who is already leading on the organising of next year's event.

We will look forward to another vibrant and lively event and I hope to see you there!



Vijay Sudra, LDC Conference Chair 2019

• Vijay Sudra

Dear Colleagues 

The last twelve months have gone in a blink and LDC Conference is now just around the corner.

I look forward to seeing you all in Birmingham.   Conference can only happen with your support and that of all of our LDCs.  I thank you all for your motions and the hard work that has gone into drafting these.  I thank you also for being supportive in amending these where it was felt necessary, and apologise we have not been able to accommodate all of the motions.   

I hope you approve of the slightly new format of having explanatory narratives accompanying the motions and welcome your comments around this.  My idea behind this is that these narratives will help give background information and context to the motions and one hopes, this will enhance your informed contribution to the debating and voting process. Hopefully, these narratives will also help to reduce ambiguities too and this should help to reduce the need for time consuming clarification.  Time is always precious at this event and I will do my best to ensure we are able to get through all of the motions by the end of the Friday morning session.  

I will take this opportunity to refer all delegates to the Standing Orders as a reminder of correct conduct of conference.   Those presenting a motion are limited to 3 minutes with the opportunity of right of return to the rostrum for 1 more minute, maximum, if needed.  So that the conference remains dynamic, we will enforce this strictly.  All speakers are encouraged to expand on their supplied narrative and not articulate this verbatim when they move their motion.  To simply recite the narrative would be deemed a waste of time and failure to utilise an opportunity to expand on why your motion should get unanimous support.

It remains for me to thank your agenda committee and the BDA support staff for all their immeasurable support and hard work over the past year.  Putting a conference like this takes a very large amount of time and effort.  On behalf of the agenda committee, I would also like to thank in particular, your Treasurer, Will Newport, for his unstinting hard work and very significant contributions to the committee.  Will is stepping down from the role after three years.   His boots will indeed be big ones to fill. Not only has he been an excellent and diligent Treasurer, he has brought youth and a vast contemporary knowledge to the agenda committee, not least with reference to IG matters.  I encourage those of you who feel you have such qualities to stand for the various roles up for grabs, nominations will be taken from the floor on the Thursday morning.

Conference papers at the event
Papers for the Conference are available here.

Voting permissions
To ensure correct voting permissions at the Conference please check you are registered in the correct capacity (delegate list features in the Papers). If you have registered for the conference as a GDPC member but no one is attending from your LDC it is recommended you amend your registration to that of LDC Representative so you can vote on your LDCs behalf. Please contact Fiona Feltham as soon as possible (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 020 7563 6876) to update your voting permissions. The same applies if you are due to attend as the Observer, but a change in circumstances has found you taking on the role of Representative.

Conference Dinner
The Conference Dinner will take place a short walk away from the conference venue/headquarters hotel at the Birmingham Town Hall. The evening begins with a drinks reception at 19:15 with dinner due to commence at 20:00. Dress code is black tie. If you have not yet booked tickets via the Eventbrite booking system, again please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to ensure you can be accommodated.

Travel and expenses: Here are the links to information about travel arrangements and expense claims.

To help you with your travel plans it may be useful to highlight that lunch is from 12:30 on the Thursday, with Conference proceedings commencing at 13:30. Conference closes on the Friday at 13:00 and lunch is then served until 14:00.

Hotels: Information regarding hotels is available here.

Venues: Information about the venues and directions can be found here.

Sponsors and exhibitors
We are joined this year by another impressive array of companies, with Dental Elite kindly supporting us as Gold sponsor. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsor and the exhibitors for their support.

Please do contact me if you have any queries.

I look forward to seeing you all in a couple of weeks’ time.

Best wishes, Vijay 

Vijay Sudra
Chair of LDC Conference 2019

• Vijay Sudra

Call for LDC Conference motions 

Registration for Conference is now open

British Dental Guild contributions

I want to finish this month’s blog by thanking Chair Elect Leah Farrell for her sterling work in revamping the LDC Conference website. 

The content has been updated to include much more information about what happens at conference, how motions are debated and how LDC delegates can prepare themselves for the event.  

We keep asking for newbies to come to conference and we hope the information within the new website will educate, inform and inspire.  

I would encourage all seasoned attendees to visit the site too, nothing wrong with a refresher for all of us!

Until next month, best wishes.



Vijay Sudra, LDC Conference Chair 2019