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Dentist wins first round of fight | |
(about 9 hours later) | |
A Birmingham orthodontist has stopped the NHS from being able to sack dentists at will. | |
Dr Eddie Crouch will have to wait to hear whether he was right that patients should have been consulted over major changes to NHS dental contracts. | |
Dr Crouch, who runs a practice in Acocks Green, was given £40,000 by his colleagues to seek the judicial review at the High Court. | |
Mr Justice Collins is expected to give his judgement on Tuesday or Wednesday. | |
Dr Crouch said under the former system dentists could "immediately" begin treatment on patients but under the new contracts a fixed NHS budget meant a limited number of people could be treated. | |
I do pity those poor dentists who have to struggle with this kind of rubbish Mr Justice Collins | |
He said others were placed on waiting lists, which meant hundreds of people were now waiting and it could lead to them seeking private dentist care. | He said others were placed on waiting lists, which meant hundreds of people were now waiting and it could lead to them seeking private dentist care. |
South Birmingham Primary Care Trust (PCT) had said it would rigorously defend the action in the High Court, which concerns contracts which came into force in April 2006. | |
It argued that the rules it was following were put in place by the NHS and were legal. | |
But lawyers for Dr Crouch said the changes to dental contracts amounted to major reform and the public should have been consulted. | |
During the hearing, the judge was scathing about NHS regulations for dentists. | |
'Fairer system' | |
He said: "It is like going through a marsh, trying to leap from tussock to tussock. | |
"I do pity those poor dentists who have to struggle with this kind of rubbish." | |
The judge added that ending an orthodontist's contract early "drove a coach and horses through what the act intended" and was not what Parliament wanted. | |
The Department of Health had said introducing the contracts would create a "much fairer system". | The Department of Health had said introducing the contracts would create a "much fairer system". |
It would not comment directly on the case, but has said NHS dentistry was expanding, with PCTs commissioning more dental services now, compared to the year before the reforms. | It would not comment directly on the case, but has said NHS dentistry was expanding, with PCTs commissioning more dental services now, compared to the year before the reforms. |
Mr Crouch said he had already spent between £30,000 and £40,000 on legal fees fighting the case. "The big risk is if I lose, and if I lose then what happens is I may have to pay the costs not only for my side but also of the primary care trust's side," he said. | |
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