2012 Annual Conference of Local Dental Committees 14th and 15th June 2012 – Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield Dear Colleague It is with great pleasure that I, as Chair of Conference 2012, invite LDC representatives and GDPC members to attend the 61st Annual Conference of Local Dental Committees, which this year will be held in my home town and birthplace, Sheffield. The Cutlers' Hall is one of Sheffield's hidden gems, and home to the Company of Cutlers' in Hallamshire, www.cutlershall.co.uk.

Thank you for the opportunity to chair Conference; it is a great honour. The Conference is your chance to speak up for your constituents, and make their voice heard, as work gets underway in the pilots for another new dental contract.

The programme
Conference will hear from pilot practices how the process is going, the latest on the issues affecting final-year dental students applying for Vocational Training (DF1), from LDCs engaged with pilot Local Professional Networks and the report from the Office of Fair Trading into Dentistry.

On-line bookings
I aim to expand the use of IT in and around Conference, so please:

1. Book your conference and dinner tickets on-line
2. Submit your motions and nominations to GDPC on-line
3. Book your hotel on-line

Please book by Friday 6th April

On-line booking is new to this Conference, but it should enable a smoother, more efficient experience for all. Detailed instructions on how to make your bookings are available here.

Accommodation
Sheffield is host to its annual Documentary Film Festival over the same period so it is essential to book your hotel early - we have to release unsold rooms back to the venues on 13th April, so please book by this date.

Motions
PCTs are clustering, and the first, formative, pilot Local Professional Networks (LPN) are forming. LDCs should now be working with the other LDCs in their PCT cluster, and ensuring that General Dental practitioners in their area have a cohesive, assured voice at these meetings. The new structures will feed into local authorities and into the local level of the NHS Commissioning Board, so it is essential that the voice of GDPs and LDCs is well briefed, well prepared and well heard.

The presence of constructive, well debated and contentious motions make Conference interesting and relevant in the current political climate. I hope that you will spend some time thinking of just such motions, to show your resolve to get the best for your colleagues, and the best out of conference. We can send clear messages for the BDA and GDPC to give to the Department of Health, the GDC and others, when Conference performs to its best.

The dinner
As is the custom, the Conference will be preceded by a dinner on the evening of the 14th June, also in the Cutlers' Hall where your after-dinner speaker will be Gyles Brandreth writer, broadcaster, former MP and Government Whip - and one of Britain's most popular after-dinner speakers.

I look forward to welcoming you to the 2012 Conference in Sheffield.

Kind Regards

Jim Lafferty
Chair, 2012 Annual Conference of Local Dental Committees