Your NHS dentistry and oral health update

 Friday 29 October 2021 (Issue 30)

An update from Sara Hurley and Ed Waller

Dear colleague,

The NHS booster roll out continues to go from strength to strength, with nearly 1.6 million lifesaving booster jabs delivered over the last week, higher than last week’s record numbers, and with over half of eligible over 50s now protected. There are more clinics delivering vaccines now than at any other point in the programme.

Many members of the NHS dental team are eligible for a booster, so book yours if you haven’t already. It's one of our best ways of keeping the virus under control. We also encourage you to book your free NHS flu vaccine, too. More detail is in this bulletin.

Other updates today include useful resources to look after your own health and wellbeing from free NHS weight management advice, resources to help you develop your career and look after your team, to advice on quitting smoking. 

We must do all we can to make sure our patients are empowered to make decisions about their oral health care but nearly half the adults in England struggle to read and understand health information. Please take advantage of Health Education England's health literacy course, with details below. 

If more people had the confidence and skills to call 999 quickly, deliver effective CPR until the ambulance crew arrive, and use a public access defibrillator, the number of lives saved would double. GoodSAM Responders are NHS, Police and Fire Staff, First Aiders and others who are trained in CPR. GoodSAM is integrated with most UK Ambulance services, and when a call that is likely to be a cardiac arrest comes in, the system automatically alerts nearby responders .If you’re a healthcare professional or first aider and you’d like to support, you can sign-up as a trained first responder.

Best wishes,

Sara and Ed

Making sure NHS dental teams are vaccinated 

Get your COVID-19 booster jab as a frontline health worker

The NHS is vaccinating in line with guidance set by the JCVI which says that eligible groups can have a booster shot, a minimum of six months on from their second jab for maximum protection.

The NHS will contact you to offer you a booster vaccine if you are eligible and it has been at least six months (182 days) since the date of your second vaccine dose. Anyone receiving an invite should come forward as soon as possible to get crucial protection.

Anyone eligible for a booster who is 190 days on from their second dose can go online and book through the National Booking Service or call 119 if they need extra support with their booking.

The booster programme is being delivered through existing sites including pharmacies, hospital hubs, GP practices and vaccination centres.

Staff employed by an NHS Trust should follow their Trust’s guidance on booking a booster vaccination in the first instance.

Advice on eligibility for a booster was shared in our bulletin last month. 

Book your free NHS flu jab 

NHS Digital Weight Management Programme: Free self-referral for eligible NHS staff

As we head into a busy winter, there's never been a more important time for NHS staff to look after their own health and wellbeing. 

Thousands of NHS staff have already signed up to the NHS Digital Weight Management programme, which provides free access to 12-week weight management plans, accessed through a smartphone or computer, for NHS staff living with obesity. Each programme is personally tailored to support a journey to a healthier lifestyle. The offer, with enhanced criteria, is also available to eligible members of the public through their GP or pharmacist.

NHS dental team members are eligible if they have a NHS email address. For more information about the programme, eligibility and how to apply visit our website.

How trained first responders are supporting NHS ambulance services to deliver lifesaving CPR

The NHS Long Term Plan aims to increase the out of hospital cardiac arrest survival rate in England to 25% to bridge the gap between countries like Norway. where 73% of bystanders are willing to try CPR when they witness someone collapsing and going into cardiac arrest outside of hospital.

Two of the most important factors influencing survival are the early use of effective CPR and early defibrillation.

If you’re a healthcare professional or first aider and you would like to support, you can sign-up as a trained first responder and help to increase the chances of survival from cardiac arrest. The website also includes a sign up link for training opportunities.

Health literacy: a short course for a big health impact 

Nearly half the adults in England (43%) struggle to read and understand health information. When that information includes words and numbers, that rises to 61%. This means important details, such as dosage and how to take medicines can be missed.

Health Education England has developed a free, 35 minute online health literacy course, designed for anyone working with or supporting patients, families and carers. Sign up today for the online health literacy course on the NHS e-learning for healthcare platform.

Find out more about improving Health Literacy.

Free coaching for NHS dental team members to look after your team and your career 

Looking after your team

This is an opportunity for those who lead, manage or organise teams, groups or networks in primary care to access confidential coaching about their team and to develop practical tools and methods to work with your team in whatever way is important to you.

Conversations may include how to:

• support new team members and embed new roles
• connect as a team and improve performance
• build an environment of trust and safety.

Having an open and honest conversation with an experienced coach at a date and time that suits you, can help to create a more resilient and compassionate team culture. Coaching is free and is available Monday to Saturday.

More information is on the NHS website.

Looking after your career

We value our primary care workforce and want to ensure they are fulfilled and in control of their careers. Individual coaching is available with a skilled and experienced career coach. The aim of the service is to provide an easy to access, individually tailored coaching service that focuses on supporting you with your career choices.

If you are thinking about your career and what you want from your current role, or if you are thinking about exploring new opportunities and making some changes, investing some time with a coach can be a very helpful thing to do.

Your coach will not have an agenda, they will listen and help you to think through what is right for you. The coaching is designed to support you to take practical steps, take more control over your career direction and proactively advance it.

More information is on the NHS website.

Stoptober and the journey to quitting smoking 

In 10 years Stoptober has helped over 2 million people try to stop smoking. If you’re thinking about stopping smoking then you can use Stoptober as the time to start your quitting journey.

For information on advising patients to quit smoking, ‘Delivering better oral health: an evidence-based toolkit for prevention’ provides a good base to help your team give better advise to patients on how to improve their oral health, such as health eating advice. In particular, teams should familiarise themselves with policies on smoking cessation (chapter 11), such as ASK (establish smoking status), ADVISE (on the benefits of quitting) and ACT (offer help and refer).

Further information can be found on the National Centre for Smoking Cessation’s website

October newsletters from the General Dental Council (GDC) and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA)

The GDC has published it's October newsletter, updates include:

• New Chair and Council member take up their posts
• Annual Renewal for dentists: payment options and personal details
• New guidance on botulinum toxin and cosmetic fillers restrictions
• Tax guidance changes for Associate Dentists from 6 April 2023
• Whistleblowing disclosures report 2020

The NHSBSA has published it's October bulletin, updates include:

• Compass: new look and new features
• Dental practice written complaints data collection (KO41b)
• 2021/22 workforce form submissions
• New data items on general dental activity forms
• Replacement form submissions

Signing up to this bulletin

Have you been sent this bulletin by someone else? 

This bulletin is a round up of all the latest news and important resources for anyone working in NHS dental services. We'll send it out as and when important news needs to come your way. If you've already signed up but didn't receive the update, then check your junk folder for the confirmation email and make sure you've followed the instructions to complete sign up.

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. 

COVID-19 advice, guidance and resources

Communications resources for NHS dental practices

Click on the links below to view and download useful communication resources:

• Click here for social media image cards and patient leaflets
• Click here for social media assets and posters explaining IPC requirements
• Click here to download website/social media copy and scripts for answer machine message, text message and emails.

NHS updates to the profession 

Key letters from the Chief Dental Officer and the NHS dentistry and oral health team are 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.

Health and wellbeing support