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Your NHS dentistry and oral health update
Wednesday 11 August 2021 (Issue 22)
An update from Sara Hurley, Chief Dental Officer England
Dear colleague,
There has been a minor change to dentistry's infection prevention control guidance - post AGP down time (fallow time) is not considered necessary for successive appointments between members of the same household.
To minimise aerosol spread dentists should use mitigating measures such as high volume suction/rubber dam; cleaning and disinfection of the environment should be carried out between patients of the same household; high risk patients should be separated by space or time from other patients.
In the last couple of bulletins, we have asked practices to update your NHS profiles as a matter of priority. Accurate information on the NHS website is very important for patients. Thank you to those of you who have done so. If you haven't yet, please take a look at the NHS' visual guide on how to amend your web pages, the details of which are below.
I fully appreciate the on-going commitment to meeting patient needs but I hope that you may also find time to enjoy the Summer, relax with family and meet up with friends following the easing of restrictions.
Best wishes,
Sara
Infection prevention control guidance
The IPC guidance has been amended so that post AGP down time (fallow time) is not considered necessary for successive appointments between members of the same household. Please read the guidance in full online.
The guidance should be read in conjunction with dentistry's standard operating procedure. Primary dental care providers may carry out both non-AGP and AGP care, subject to availability of the appropriate PPE and in line with infection prevention and control guidance, including post-AGP downtime requirements.
Is your practice's information on the NHS website up to date?
It is important for patients that NHS dental practices have accurate information on the NHS website, including opening times and whether the practice is taking on new patients.
Don't worry if it isn't - read the NHS' online visual guide which explains how to update your profile and gain editing rights if you do not have them.
NHS Business Services Authority July bulletin
The NHS Business Services Authority has published its July bulletin for providers and performers. The bulletin includes important information on:
- Temporary approval to suspend the need for signatures on dental forms (extension)
- Deadline extension: Annual Reconciliation Report process
- COVID-19 workforce data collection requirements
- Year-end reconciliation letters
- Friends and Family Test submissions
- KO41b dental complaints data submission
- Suspension of some Compass functions
- Quarters 1 and 2 calendar month report in Compass
- Have your say on eDEN
You can read the bulletin online.
The latest REACT-1 study findings: infection rates are three times lower for double vaccinated people
The latest REACT-1 study findings from Imperial College London and Ipsos MORI show COVID-19 infection rates are three times lower for double vaccinated people.
Over 98,000 volunteers took part in the study in England between 24 June and 12 July to examine the levels of COVID-19 in the general population. The latest data show infections in England have increased fourfold from 0.15% to 0.63% since the last REACT-1 report which covered the period 20 May to 7 June.
Despite this increase, the findings indicate the spread of the virus was slowing as of 12 July and infection rates for double vaccinated people are three times lower than in unvaccinated.
Analysis by Imperial College suggests double vaccinated people are also less likely to pass on the virus to others.
For more information, please see the press release on DHSC's website.
Signing up to this bulletin
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Previous NHS dentistry and oral health bulletins
Previous bulletins can be accessed by clicking on the links below:
NHS primary care bulletin
The NHS primary care bulletin provides resources on health policy and practice and we encourage you to sign up for this, too. It is aimed at teams across general practice, dentistry, community pharmacy and optometry.
A reminder of the latest COVID-19 advice and guidance
NHS updates to the profession
Key updates from the Chief Dental Officer and the NHS dentistry and oral health team are all online here.
Transition to Recovery: Dentistry's standard operating procedure
The latest version was published on Friday 16 July 2021. Changes to the previous SOP are in yellow. You can read the SOP online here.
COVID-19: infection prevention and control dental guidance
The guidance is an appendix to and should be read in conjunction with the national guidance on infection prevention and control for COVID-19 . You can read the general guidance and the specialist dental appendix online here.
Avoidance of doubt note: provision of phased treatments
This document is to support dental professionals, and to clarify where it might be appropriate to provide phased treatment spanning over several courses of treatment (CoT). You can read it online here.