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Your NHS dentistry and oral health update
Wednesday 18 August 2021 (Issue 23)
An update from Sara Hurley and Ed Waller
Dear colleague,
The NHS has issued guidance around the expectation of staff isolation post 16th August, this applies to contractor groups such as NHS primary care dental teams.
Subject to safeguards, fully vaccinated staff and students who are identified as a contact of a positive COVID-19 case will no longer be expected to isolate and will be expected to return to work.
However, if the safeguards cannot be met, or if the staff member has not had both doses of the vaccine, or they are living directly (same household) with a positive COVID-19 case, they will be asked not to come to work. This will remain under review.
There may be times when it is appropriate for the staff living with a positive COVID-19 case to return to work, in line with government guidance, in a risk-assessed way, but this should be through a process agreed with an appropriate senior decision maker (for example your Director of Public Health).
Please read this letter to understand the detail and if you have any questions please contact your commissioner.
Very best wishes,
Sara & Ed
Sara Hurley
Chief Dental Officer England
Ed Waller
Director of Primary Care
NHS England
Guidance on staff and student self-isolation and return to work
The government’s requirements to self-isolate after a positive COVID-19 contact have changed from Monday 16 August. Our letter outlines how this change will impact staff and students working in the NHS.
This supersedes previous PHE guidance and applies to all staff including substantive clinical and non-clinical roles, staff bank, contractors and suppliers – and students working in all facilities, settings and organisations delivering NHS care. PHE’s updated guidance is here.
Vaccinations for staff entering care homes
DHSC has published guidance on new regulations which make COVID-19 vaccination a requirement for NHS staff entering care homes. This includes all staff in NHS commissioned services going into care homes. The regulations will come into force on 11 November to give care homes, services, and staff time to prepare.
While most NHS staff have been vaccinated, there are exemptions for those who have not, due to medical reasons. The guidance details the exemptions, which also include health service staff deployed for emergency response. Further advice for the NHS will follow. Please email england.ageingwell@nhs.net if you have any questions.
Healthcare professionals sought for NHS staff winter vaccinations advertising
NHS England and NHS Improvement is looking for healthcare professionals to feature in marketing materials such as posters and social media for this year’s Staff Winter Vaccinations campaign. We are looking for GPs, practice nurses and dentists and encourage people from all backgrounds to apply. No acting/modelling experience necessary. Measures will be in place to ensure photography is COVID-19 secure. The photoshoot will take place on w/c 23rd August.
If you are interested, please send you name, job title and location with a headshot photograph to england.campaigns@nhs.net by tomorrow Thursday 19 August 2021.
Public Health England: COVID-19 vaccination social media cards for migrant and refugee populations
Social media cards have been produced to reach migrant and refugee communities. Available in 25 languages, these cards can be downloaded directly from the Health Publications website. You can download these resources and many of our publications including the COVID-19 leaflets and posters such as Easy Read, braille, large print, translated versions and BSL videos.
Resettlement of families from Afghanistan (ARAP Programme)
The UK is supporting the relocation of Afghan workers and their families under government policy which recognise their support for UK forces in dangerous and challenging situations.
Families are entitled to access all NHS healthcare services under their 5 years ‘Leave to Enter the UK’ immigration status.
Public Health England has produced guidance to help primary care professionals to assess and address the health needs of relocated individuals.
Additionally, please do familiarise yourself with Public Health England's dental advice and guidance on the health needs of migrant patients.
Email england.primarycareops@nhs.net if you have any queries.
Health and wellbeing resources for dental teams
Wellbeing support for the dental team
Wellbeing Support for the Dental Team is a document which brings together many of the key resources which dental team members can use for their health and wellbeing. It has been created for all dental team members, including students and non-clinical roles. The document can be found online, please do share it with your colleagues, teams and friends.
'Looking after you too' service
Frontline primary care colleagues, both clinical and non-clinical, are facing unprecedented challenges through COVID-19. Individual coaching support is available with a highly skilled and experienced coach. This will be a space for you to offload the demands of whatever you are experiencing and be supported in developing practical strategies for dealing with this.
Find out more about Looking after you too online and read about the experience of a dental practitioner who works in a community dental service and used the service. During COVID-19, they took on some elements of leadership and management within the team, requiring accelerated personal and professional development.
'How to' wellbeing guides
The NHS has produced a number of useful guides which help individuals better support their own wellbeing. Please do share these with your colleagues, you can find them online.
NHS Practitioner Health
Practitioner Health is a free, confidential NHS mental health treatment service with expertise in treating healthcare professionals. The service is open to doctors and dentists. The service can help with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. We also see healthcare professionals with more severe illnesses, such as bipolar affective disorder, personality disorders and psychosis and with a range of addiction issues. Further information is online.
Dental professional nominations for national honours
We are currently seeking nominations from across the oral health sector for recognition in the national honours system. Nominations can cover specific activities or a lifetime achievement. Status or seniority is not important – what is crucial is the impact that the person has had on people’s health, be that locally, nationally or internationally.
Go to Nominate someone for an honour or award for advice on developing your draft and for information on how the process works, along with a nomination form.
Nominations can be sent directly to the Honours team at mb-honours@dhsc.gov.uk or via the Office of the Chief Dental Officer (OCDO) at ENGLAND.CDOExecutive@nhs.net. If you are sending to OCDO, forms need to be received by Tuesday 24th August 2021.
Key communication resources for NHS dental practices
Click here to download our handy document with key messaging for patients which explains why restrictions are still in place for NHS dental services, including website/social media copy, answer machine message, text message and an email script following patient query of public health measures, all of which you can copy and paste.
Click here to view and download resources supporting the latest IPC guidance including social media assets and a poster for dental practices to use at entrances to notify visitors that they still need to wear a face covering.
Click here to view and download the following resources:
Dental practice social media image cards - including key messages such as dental practices are open, measures are in place for your safety, and prioritisation messaging around urgent dental care and check ups.
- Patient leaflet - 'What can your NHS dentist do for you?'
- Easy read version of our patient facing leaflet - 'What can your NHS dentist do for you?'
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.
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.