​Released on August 31, 2022, a new update from Ali Sparke, NHS director for dentistry, community pharmacy and optometry, and Rebecca Harris, deputy NHS dental officer England, opened with a Covid-19 update.

They said, “The government has set out plans for Covid-19 testing in periods of low prevalence following advice from UKHSA. We have published a letter which sets out our approach to delivering UKHSA’s advice in relation to staff and patient testing. Routine asymptomatic testing in a number of settings will pause from August 31, 2022, and the letter includes a list of scenarios where testing in the NHS should continue after this date. NHS organisations are asked to review their COVID-19 testing protocols in light of this new guidance, and implement changes as required.”

Public-facing NHS staff are no longer required to take lateral flow tests twice a week. But this is subject to the discretion of local dental commissioners for “specific individuals or cohorts in line with broader infection prevention and control measures.”

Symptomatic testing will continue.

Ali and Rebecca listed the typical symptoms:

  • Fever
  • A new and continuous cough
  • Anosmia (loss of smell)
  • Ageusia (loss of taste)

Symptoms of Covid-19 can be wide-ranging, other symptoms include:

  • Shortness of breath
  • Fatigue
  • Loss of appetite
  • Myalgia (muscle ache)
  • Sore throat
  • Headache
  • Nasal congestion (stuffy nose)
  • Runny nose
  • Diarrhoea
  • Nausea and vomiting

The authors mentioned that they are “currently working on supporting implementation of the first set of contractual changes announced in July 2022. As noted in that letter, in parallel with this, we are working on further reform, more details of which are set out below.”

Next steps on system reform

Last year focus groups were conducted with contract holders, associates, other clinical and practice management staff, commissioners and patient representatives. The issues raised by the focus groups formed the basis for many of the reform proposals announced in July.

In the next few months, Rebecca and Ali said they “intend to repeat the focus group exercise to continue to gather perspectives from front-line clinical staff, both on potential solutions to these challenges and importantly factors to consider when implementing potential solutions.”

They will also be working with stakeholder representatives from various dental professional groups.

Discussions will be focused 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”

Making use of the £50m investment announced in January

NHS England made an extra £50 million available for NHS dentistry in January 2022 to secure increased care capacity.

As a result, “an additional 64,456 people” have been treated “with one-third of the activities taking place on the weekend, utilising 30 per cent of the available funding.”

They explain that the investment “has been significant in ensuring that those with a higher level of need were able to be seen. The majority of treatments (67 per cent) were for urgent care. When compared to usual care sessions during the same time period, a higher proportion of patients were charge exempt (32 per cent vs 14 per cent) and drawn from some of the most deprived groups based on ACORN consumer classification status.”

The section concludes by thanking everyone involved in providing the additional care.

Applications open for competition to support pioneering clinical innovations

SBRI Healthcare (an Accelerated Access collaborative initiative), in partnership with Greener NHS and AHSN Network, have called for innovations toreduce carbon emissions and improve patient care.

The innovations are aimed at combatting four key challenge areas:

  • “Decarbonising surgical pathways
  • “Reducing waste in surgery and critical care
  • “Net zero personalised care
  • “Tools to support the workforce to deliver net zero care”

Applications to the competition are open from August 24 – October 5, 2022.

Also covered in the update:

Submit your KO41b - deadline approaching: A reminder that dental providers must submit a KO41b return for each contract they hold and brief details of complaints made by or on behalf of patients between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022. The deadline to submit is 11:59 pm on September 9, 2022.

Apprenticeships and leadership programmes: “Apprenticeships: The NHS Leadership Academy has partnered with apprenticeship providers offering apprenticeships in a range of disciplines at different levels, in conjunction with a Leadership Academy award.”

Health and wellbeing (HWB) champion development programme: NHS England is funding 750 places for HWB champions to complete the Royal Society for Public Health Level 2 award in understanding Health improvement. Find out more information and how to apply.

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