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Modelling has been used to estimate variations in travel time to Accident & Emergency (A&E) Departments for Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and Road Traffic Accidents (RTA), taking into account three different distributions of A&E departments in the country. We have modelled three scenarios: current, the current distribution of A&E Departments; intermediate, two A&E Units for some Health Boards and one for others; and extreme, one A&E Department for each of the 10 Health Boards. The percentage of travel times that fall within an hour for AMI and RTA for the three scenarios (current, intermediate and extreme) are 85.6, 82.8, 70.0 and 81.8, 85.2, 71.8 percent respectively. While a redistribution of A&E Departments seems inevitable, a sensible modelling approach can be used to plan the new distribution of services to maintain equitable geographic access.

A survey of dental schools in the European Union was carried out for two main reasons. Firstly to promote the exchange of information in respect of curriculum objectives in the different countries and secondly to ascertain the differences in the interpretation of the 1978 EU sectoral directives for dental education and training. Out of 127 schools, only 30 responded, yet the information provided is of considerable importance. It demonstrates wide divergence in the interpretation of the 1978 Directives and methods of assessment of clinical competence. There is a considerable difference throughout Europe in hours devoted to the various subjects included in the Dental Directives. There is little evidence of convergence in methods of assessment or quality assurance. The survey demonstrates the difference in resources, levels of staff, availability of clinical training places, output in research and patient treatments throughout the European Union. The results question the effectiveness of the 1978 Dental Directives in promoting convergence of standards. As there is free movement of dentists throughout the European Union, it is concluded that a different approach may be necessary to ensure that all European Union dental graduates achieve comparable standards in their education and training.