Welcome to the East Sussex Local Dental Committee Website

Welcome to our website. Your Local Dentist Committee is here to support the needs of local Dentists.

Your LDC consists of the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Executive Assistant and 16 members all listed under the Contacts Tab.

The main function of the Committee is to represent and support General Dental Practitioners (GDPs); to ensure that GDPs are properly valued, and their skills properly utilised; that, whilst serving the public, they are able to uphold appropriate standards of practice.

The Committee is a statutory body representing (GDPs) based in East Sussex. In the main, these will be GDPs working as providers / performers with Brighton & Hove City Primary Care Trust (PCT) Sussex Downs & Weald PCT, and Hastings & Rother PCT.

As the local representative committee for independent Dental practitioners, the LDC has the statutory right to be consulted by the above Primary Care Trusts and the Strategic Health Authority on issues relating to the dental profession including negotiations around provision of General and Personal Dental Services.

The LDC is an independent body funded by GDPs themselves via a compulsory Statutory Levy. This amount of levy paid by each GDP is related to their NHS income. This Levy is restricted to meeting the costs of administration of the Committee and may not be used for anything else. In addition, GDPs are asked to contribute to a Voluntary Levy, which is used to finance such events as the LDC Annual Conference and to allow the committee to make donations towards funding the British Dental Guild and charitable organisations supporting dentists e.g. the Sick Dentists’ Scheme.

Any dental practitioner working in East Sussex wishing to attend an LDC meeting is welcome to do so, but prior notification should be made to the Secretary, who will confirm the consent of the Chairman for such an attendance. The LDC meets, in the evening, around six times a year.

Meetings are also held where LDC members meet with the people and agencies involved in the provision of dental care, e.g. with Consultants in Dental Public Health, Dental Practice Advisers, PCT Dental Leads, Shared Services Agencies, Dental Hospital/School, Postgraduate Education Advisers. At such meetings, the agenda focuses on the local and national issues affecting dentistry in East Sussex.

Members are voted in under the terms of our LDC constitution. Any GDP may stand for election in the constituency in which he or she practises. Details are available from the Secretary.