Clinical standards revised: NHS update

On November 1, 2022, Sarah Hurley, chief dental officer for England, and Ali Sparke, director for dentistry, community pharmacy and optometry, released their latest bulletin.

The update announced a series of alterations to clinical standards with the publication of new guides.

Explaining the changes the authors wrote, “the standards are intended to address the need for greater national level standardisation in NHS England’s commissioning of dental care, as well as providing clarity and consistency around the dental services the NHS provides and supporting providers to work together to focus on patients and their needs.”

Clinical guides

The new ‘Clinical Guide to Dentistry’ “includes associated appendices which will be derived from the current suite of commissioning standards and commissioning guides which look at specific dental specialities and areas of care.” Moving to an online platform will enable regular review and revision of the guide.

The ‘Clinical Standard for Restorative Dentistry’ document will support commissioners by implementing a “standardised framework for the local commissioning of specialist and specialised restorative dentistry services.”

For services which fall under the ‘Special Care Dentistry Clinical Standard’ guidelines, the changes will be “vital in supporting the quality and efficacy of the breadth of dental treatment and oral health care.”

Next steps on system reform

To continue striving for reforms, Sarah and Ali want to hear from “front-line dental teams to build on the work that has already progressed and to tackle further issues.” Consequently, a series of focus groups will be conducted in November and December 2022 to hear feedback from every member of the dental team.

The groups will be focussed on the following:

“Improving urgent care access
“Supporting access for new patients
“Re-orientating the system towards prevention, and
“Dental team recruitment and retention and helping dental teams to feel part of the NHS”

For more information visit www.pcc-cic.org.uk/dsr

Also mentioned in the update:

Develop Practical Leadership Skills and Knowledge: Encouraging dental staff to participate in the NHS Leadership Academy to upskill and achieve their career goals.