COMMUNIQUE

Communique by CEO

KC Makhubele

Chief Executive Officer

Head Office was actively busy in March 2019 in preparation for the 19^th Annual General Meeting of the Association. It was an also incredible privilege for me to attend my third Annual General Meeting of our members as Chief Executive Officer. It is important for us to appreciate these opportunities to connect with our membership; after all that's what it is all about for us - successful inclusion of members. In addition to presenting the usual statutory and legal requirement requiring approval by members, including the Audited Financial Statements, voting members were also requested to approve a change in the financial year end of the Association.

The financial year of the Association was changed to coincide with the calendar year and to provide for this, the Association's constitution also required an amendment. Aligning the financial year to the calendar year made sense since it then also aligns with the membership year (1 January to 31 December). The change in financial year end would also greatly assist in operational matters during audit and renewal processes. It would allow the Association to decide on a Congress date without concern about whether budget, income and expenses fall within or outside of the financial year. It also enables Branch plans and budgetting for their annual events and for reporting back to members to be more synchronised.

The SADA's 2017/18 Annual Integrated Report for the period 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2018 was available to members and other stakeholders, presenting a holistic view of SADA's business model, governance, strategy, and performance. It contained reports on operations at the Head Office and Branches countrywide, with the framework of reference being key risks and opportunities that impact on both private and public oral healthcare services. Summarised Audited Financial Reports were also contained in the Annual Report to provide members with an overview of the financial status.

The Annual Meeting was followed by a two day meeting of the National Council where Branch representatives participated in a strategy workshop to provide input into the formulation of the new SADA Strategy for the following three years from 2020 - 2021. The new strategy will guide the business plan of the Association. National Council also considered the report of the Nominations Committee and elected six Dentist Directors for appointment to the SADA Board, in addition to agreeing to retain four directors who were eligible and agreed to serve for a second term of two years. A further two Directors were elected from four candidates recommended by the Nominations Committee. One of the nominees so recommended withdrew his availability due to his commencing studies overseas. The National Council were also requested to elect the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Board. The Dentist Directors elected by National Council are Dr R Putter (Chairperson), Dr N Osman (Vice Chairperson), Dr S Pieters, Dr FC Meyer, Dr EK Naidoo and Dr S Swanepoel. Congratulations and best wishes!

We also bid a fond farewell to Dr Yvette Solomons, who has served with distinction for the past six years as Chairperson of the Board. I have truly enjoyed getting to know the profession through the guidance of Dr Solomons and we spent many hours working together to improve the professional lives of our members. The past two and half years has seen us begin to lay a foundation upon which the Association will continue to be built in years to come.

The compilation of Relative Value Units (RVUs) for dental codes, initiated in 2018 with consultants, has progressed so well that we were able to secure an abundance of survey responses from general practitioners and specialists. A draft report has been prepared by the consultants and, together with the results of previous RVU surveys, a final draft will be considered by the RVU Steering Committee. We are confident that the final RVU results will be completed in the next quarter. In addition, the Association will be reviewing dental codes, bringing these up to date with the latest technology, procedures and guidelines.

Well underway is the planning and organising of the 2019 Dental & Oral Health Congress and Exhibition which is to be held between 30 August and 1 September at the Albert Luthuli International Conference Centre in Durban.

The theme for this year's congress is "From Start to Finish: Back to Basics". The programme has been partially finalised with the international speakers, with further planning of local speakers, parallel programmes for specialists and allied oral health care professionals. I would like to invite all members to register early and to take advantage of the Early Bird specials. Participate in the premier event in the dental calendar!