GIRFT guidance to help improve the Community Dental Service (CDS) for children and adults with special needs is now available to download.
The supplementary report was developed by a group of 25 experts working in a range of roles in different CDS providers from the specialties of paediatric dentistry and special care dentistry. As part of the work, a questionnaire was sent out to all 68 CDS providers in England, which received a 100% response rate.
The report offers recommended actions and includes a delivery checklist to support improvements in the areas of safety, data capture, governance, networking and shared care models, service delivery and workforce, training and education.
Join our webinar
GIRFT is hosting a webinar on 29th January 2025 (12.30pm-1.30pm) to discuss the findings and actions of the supplementary report on CDS. Led by Liz Jones, GIRFT’s clinical lead for hospital dentistry, the session aims to outline the findings of the questionnaire and improve understanding of the CDS and its importance in delivering dental care to the most vulnerable in society and reducing inequalities.
The CDS treats children and adults with special needs; two groups covered by the two distinct specialties of paediatric dentistry and special care dentistry. Of the 68 CDS in England, some are based in acute or community trusts and others operate as community interest companies or social enterprises.
The GIRFT national report for hospital dentistry (2021) recommended a clinically-led review of the CDS as unwarranted variation was recognised during visits to trusts.
The new supplement outlines that variation and how it might be reduced, in particular focusing on creating a consistent CDS data set, improving governance arrangements and performance reporting, and ensuring a more consistent organisational model of CDS nationally.
“As we look to move care from hospital to the community, the CDS is ideally placed to deliver dental services to the most vulnerable closer to home and that opportunity needs to be realised. There also needs to be a focus on more efficient ways of working and for dentistry to embrace the opportunities available through digitalisation. The CDS very much needs to be a part of that journey. Our working group worked diligently and pragmatically to arrive at these actions, and we hope they will support the CDS to provide more access to appropriate clinical care for children and adults with special needs and to promote more equitable health outcomes for the population.”
