Friday 29 March 2024

Council of European Dentists Meeting in Malta

Representatives of the Council of European Dentists’ (CED) member and observer organisations met at the Westin Dragonara Malta recently, for the regular bi- annual General Meeting. This year the meeting was held under the chairmanship of CED President Dr. Marco Landi and hosted by the Dental Association of Malta (DAM) in the context of the Maltese EU Council Presidency.
CED is a European not-for-profit association, which represents over 340,000 practicing dentists through 32 national dental associations and chambers from 30 European countries. Its key objectives are to promote high standards of oral healthcare and effective patient-safety-centred professional practice across Europe, including through regular contacts with other European organisations and EU institutions.
The meeting attracted the participation of 120 delegates and some 40 accompanying persons who arrived from all EU member states, representing their respective National Dental Associations.

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The opening reception was held at the Westin Dragonara and an introductory speech was given by the principal co-ordinator of the meeting Dr Audrey Camilleri, whilst a welcome speech was given by DAM President Dr David Vella. The following day saw a full day general meeting being followed by a gala dinner at the Casino Maltese in Valletta. Delegates enjoyed pre-dinner drinks and canapés watching the Grand Harbour at sunset from the vantage point of the Upper Barrakka Gardens. During the conference days, accompanying persons could enjoy a varied social programme and delegates were also taken on an evening tour of Mdina, with pre-dinner drinks on the Mdina Bastions and dinner in the courtyard of Medina Restaurant.
Important topics were discussed during the meeting namely the CED revised code of ethics which takes into account national codes and the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation. First adopted in 1965 and regularly amended, the CED Code of Ethics contains guiding principles for professional conduct and ethics of dentists, which underpin high quality dental care throughout Europe. It covers the commitment to the patient and the public, the practice of the profession and electronic commerce.
A second key topic discussed was CED’s position on the proportionality test for regulated professions. CED opposes the inclusion of healthcare professions in the proposed Directive on a proportionality test before the adoption of regulations for professions. Together with other healthcare professions, CED calls for the exclusion of healthcare professions from this Directive, as public health and patient safety are put at risk by this approach. EU legislation and EU case law have established the special status of healthcare services over the years and the competence of Member States to determine the level of protection they want to afford to public health.
MEP Dr Roberta Metsola addressed the assembly and shared the healthcare professions’ concerns about this proposal, calling for the exclusion of healthcare professions at the recent European Parliament exchange of views with the European Commission. She praised DAM with regards to their constant efforts in this regard, confirming the importance of the relationship between CED and DAM. She emphasized that healthcare is fundamentally different from other services and should therefore not be dealt with by means of the same instrument. CED’s position was unanimously adopted and clearly laid out why healthcare professions should be excluded.
A resolution on the dentist of the future was made, in view of the fact that the profile of the future dentist is constantly evolving and the expected competences and skills need to be updated and new ones created. The resolution that was unanimously adopted by CED members describes the competences and skills that dentists will need to overcome and the future challenges of the profession. The ultimate future objectives are for dentists to be competent in managing traditional as well as new challenges in oral health, the ability to practice evidence-based, comprehensive dentistry independently, in group practice and in close collaboration with other health professionals; safeguarding ethics; and patient safety.
With regards the EU skills agenda, members adopted the revised mandate of the Working Group Education and Professional Qualifications. As part of the new mandate the Working Group will cover the EU Skills Agenda, monitor developments of new challenges and trends affecting the profession, and continue to discuss the strategy for the future revision of the V.3/5.3.1 of Directive 2005/36/EC. A final topic concerned digitization and eprescriptions wherein the revised mandate of the Working Group eHealth includes a focus on monitoring and guiding ePrescriptions, as well as monitoring digitization in general, data information exchange and links to dental practices and third parties.
Malta’s voting delegates during the meeting were DAM International Relations Officer Dr Audrey Camilleri and DAM Secretary Dr David Muscat. Dr Adam Bartolo and Dr David Vella also attended the meeting.

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