Our update for providers of dental care services

This bulletin was sent at 16-07-2019 11:57 AM BST

The independent regulator of health and social care in England

Update

Summer edition

Message from Janet Williamson, Deputy Chief Inspector

Welcome to our third bulletin for dental providers. In this Summer edition we talk about our landmark report, Smiling Matters, looking at oral health in care homes.

Firstly I want to thank everyone involved in this review, the internal colleagues, the providers at the 100 sites we visited, and also the members of our external advisory group that were invaluable in drawing up the recommendations. We couldn't have done this without you. This thematic review is testament to what can be achieved when organisations of all hues come together from different backgrounds, be it regulation, primary care, social care or the voluntary sector with a singular focus on improving outcomes for those who use services.

A number of the recommendations are aimed at care homes and what they can do to improve outcomes for residents, but this will take a cross-sector, multi-agency approach to resolve some of the issues that we found.

As dentists, my challenge to you is to work across your local system, with general practice, your Primary Care Network, as well as the care homes in your area to drive improvement.

I hope you find the report useful and informative.

Have a great month everyone.

Janet

Smiling matters: oral health care in care homes

On 24 June we published our report Smiling Matters: Oral health care in care homes. Over a four month period from October 2018 to January 2019 CQC dental inspectors visited 100 care home services across England to investigate the state of oral health care.

The key findings include:

Nearly half (47%) of care homes were not providing any staff training to support people's daily oral healthcare
17% of care homes visited said they did not assess people's oral health on admission
The majority (52%) of the care homes visited had no policy to promote and protect people's oral health
73% of residents' care plans we reviewed only partly covered or did not cover oral health at all - homes looking after people with dementia being the most likely to have no plan in place.

Senior National Dental Advisor John Milne said “the dental profession has understood that the needs of these vulnerable people present a growing challenge for the whole system. It’s clear too that there will be similar challenges for those receiving care in their own homes. The care system, the NHS and the dental profession need to work together to enable good oral health to become a reality for those who struggle with their oral hygiene as they become dependent on others.”

In the report we call for a cross-sector approach to work towards resolving the concerns raised by this report. There are also examples of good practice and recommendations for the dental profession as well as adult social care providers.

CQC mythbuster updates

This month we have updated two of our mythbusters:

Mythbuster 11: Statutory notifications to CQC has been updated to include new illustrative examples to help providers know when to notify CQC about certain changes, events and incidents.
Mythbuster 19: Staff recruitment has been updated to include information about Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.

GDC consultation on strategy for 2020-22

The GDC are currently running a consultation on their strategy for 2020-22, titled 'Working with the dental team for public safety and confidence'. The strategy reflects the progress that has been made against their ambitions to make dental regulation better and fairer as described in Shifting the balance, while highlighting their vision for dental regulation in the future. The strategy sets outs key intentions to:

protect patients while being fair to registrants, cost-effective and proportionate: by focusing on education and engagement, supporting career-long learning and promoting high standards of care and professional conduct
work with the professions and partners to ensure that public concerns can be addressed by the right body, quickly and effectively
use evidence, research and evaluation to ensure enforcement is cost-effective and right-touch
ensure our approach to regulation keeps pace with change
continue to build on the considerable improvements we have made.

The GDC are calling on professionals, partners and the public to engage and support this work which will be key to the developments in dental regulation over the next three years. The consultation is now open and the deadline to respond is Thursday 30 July 2019.

Speaking up for improvement – work of the National Guardian's Office

Speaking up with ideas or concerns leads to improvements for patients and colleagues, but only if the organisation listens and acts. When leaders see information as a gift, workers feel valued and listened to with a positive impact on patient care.

In the last two years, over 19,000 cases have been brought to Freedom to Speak Up Guardians in trusts, including issues relating to patient safety and bullying and harassment. In 2017 NHS England issued guidance to all primary care providers about appointing a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian.

News from the sector

Healthwatch has launched two new services to support your work improving care:
1. Reports library: Search through thousands of Healthwatch publications from across the country, bringing together 200,000+ people’s experiences.
2. Research bulletin: Sign up to a monthly newsletter which outlines specific concerns people raise with Healthwatch, as well as practical solutions to implement at your service.