Dentists attack 'idiots' in health quango

Dentists who run practices must get the checks under new Government regulations being implemented by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

But practitioners have been told they must apply in person and only at crown post offices – leaving hundreds in the region faced with journeying to a single post office in Leeds.

Dentists nationwide have a choice of just 27 crown post offices in total, leaving the nearest alternatives in Nottingham, Sunderland or Manchester.

The move has incensed dentists, some of whom face round trips of more than 150 miles across Yorkshire with paperwork. A number are believed to be considering hiring a coach to descend in large numbers on the post office in protest.

The checks are part of a new licensing process to register dentists with the commission by April. Dental leaders this week lambasted the commision, describing it as "shambolic" and calling for a delay until simpler procedures are put in place.

Scarborough dentist John Renshaw, a former chairman of the British Dental Association (BDA), branded the commission a "quango gone mad".

He estimated around 1,000 dentists in the region faced making the journey to The Markets post office in Leeds city centre. In some cases they would need to take a day off work.

"What kind of idiocy is this?" he said. "We've seen the bonfire of the quangos last week but this is a quango gone mad.

"You have to have the right papers and then find your way to Leeds to this one post office where you have to be eyeballed by staff and then you can go home again.

"It's virtually a day trip for some people – it's not something you can knock off in a lunch hour – and it's going to take up clinical time carrying out these instructions.

"It just doesn't make any sense at all."

He said dentists running practices in both the NHS and private sector had to register for enhanced checks. Dentists had no problem with the checks, but were increasingly dismayed at the way the licensing process was being handled.

He added: "There is talk of a battle-bus descending on this post office. But it's a protest that really ought not need to be made. The sensible way out of this would be a solution which doesn't involve people travelling all over the country."

Scarborough and Whitby Tory MP Robert Goodwill called for "common sense" to prevail.

"It sounds like some sort of hangover from the pointless box-ticking bureaucratic mentality of the previous Government – common sense has clearly not been part of the decision-making process.

"There are a number of bodies with a local presence much better placed to carry this out. I will certainly raise it with Ministers who will be as surprised as I am that dentists have to present themselves miles away to get their credentials verified."

The enhanced checks provide all information given by standard CRB checks for convictions but also any non-conviction information held by local police forces that might be relevant.

Last night the commission confirmed that only staff at the 27 crown post offices could carry out the verification as part of the process.

In information for dentists, the organisation said crown post offices had been chosen to save dentists travelling to the commission's offices.