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Publication - Strategy/plan

Oral health improvement plan

Published
24 January 2018
Directorate
Healthcare Quality and Improvement Directorate
Topic
Health and social care
ISBN
9781788512893

This document sets out the future of oral health improvement and NHS dental services in Scotland.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

Delivery of Commitments

Action
Chapter 1. Policy Statement
1 The Scottish Government will ensure dentistry is featured in future strategies on alcohol, smoking and diet.
2 The Scottish Government will ensure the new population health improvement body to be established by 2019, recognises dentistry and improving oral health as a priority.
Chapter 2. Focus on Prevention
3 The Scottish Government will change payments to dentists and introduce a system of monitoring to ensure that all dental practices provide preventive treatment for children.
4 The Scottish Government will introduce an Oral Health Risk Assessment.
5 The Scottish Government will introduce a clinically-proven programme of periodontal care for patients with periodontal disease and those with high risk of developing it.
6 The Scottish Government will explore the potential for introducing general health checks for adult patients whilst attending for routine dental checks.
Chapter 3. Reducing Oral Health Inequalities
7 The Scottish Government will introduce a new three-year Community Challenge Fund for Oral Health Improvement. We will host an event with our partners to help develop the key components of the fund.
8 The Scottish Government will ensure that payments for practice-based allowances reflect the social deprivation status of the patients in the practice.
9 The Scottish Government will establish a single working group to provide strategic oversight to all national oral health improvement programmes and ensure we maximise our oral health improvement effort.
10 The Scottish Government will ensure the PDS actively pursue shared care arrangements with local ‘high-street’ dental practices.
Chapter 4. Meeting the Needs of an Ageing Population
11 The Scottish Government will introduce arrangements to enable accredited GDPs to provide routine preventive care in care homes. These practitioners will also work with care home staff and the PDS to ensure the maintenance of good oral health and hygiene.
12 We will work with organisations such as the Care Inspectorate to ascertain how we can continue to raise the profile of oral health care in care home settings.
13 Once we have sufficient numbers of accredited GDPs in place, the Scottish Government will introduce new domiciliary arrangements for people who are cared for in their own home.
14 The Scottish Government will work with Chief Officers within HSCPs to establish how we can work together to improve the oral health of people who are cared for in domiciliary settings.
Chapter 5. More Services in the High Street
15 The Scottish Government will work with NHS Boards to ensure that adequate secondary care data is available on which to establish primary-secondary care pathways.
16 The Scottish Government will introduce a system of accreditation that recognises GDPs with enhanced skills enabling them to provide services that would otherwise have to be provided in HDS.
17 The Scottish Government will ensure that the clinical pathway across Scotland is safe, consistent, clear and effective.
Chapter 6. Improving Information for Patients
18 The Scottish Government will develop the standard of NHS oral health information on self-care, treatments available, costs and services to be made available to the public by dental practices and dentists.
19 The Scottish Government will streamline items of service payments to GDPs.
Chapter 7. Quality Assurance and Improvement
20 The Scottish Government will work with NHS Boards to introduce a Director of Dentistry in each Board area.
21

The Scottish Government will:

  • introduce regulations to provide NHS Boards with more powers to refuse potential applicants;
  • introduce arrangements for a single database of listing information for NHS Boards; and
  • explore options in order to gather relevant information on bodies corporate.
22 The Scottish Government will work with the dental profession to provide NHS Boards with more powers to prevent GDS being provided from practices where there is clear danger to patient care.
23 The Scottish Government will work with NHS NSS to reconfigure the DRO and DA service to ensure a more effective and responsive service in the future.
24 The Scottish Government will consider how the functions of the SDPB can be subsumed within NHS NSS.
25

The Scottish Government will:

  • publish a pathway to support dental practitioners locally; and
  • when necessary, ensure that NHS Boards use disciplinary procedures and NHS Tribunal where appropriate.
26 The Scottish Government will work towards a single database of quality improvement information for NHS Boards with appropriate access for dental teams and the public.
27

The Scottish Government will:

  • commission the development of a National Framework for Quality Assurance and Improvement across NHS dental services, using the HIS report as a starting point; and,
  • work with HIS and NES on ensuring an overarching quality approach to NHS dentistry
Chapter 8. Workforce
28 The Scottish Government will establish a Dental Workforce Planning Forum chaired by the CDO to provide regular workforce planning across the dental team.
29 The Scottish Government will develop programmes for promoting working in remote and rural areas.
30 The Scottish Government will establish an EU dentist’s network which will provide the opportunity for dentists from the EU to engage with the CDO on issues which are a consequence of Brexit.
31 The Scottish Government will commission a short-life working group to look at models of OoH NHS dental care and the patient’s OoH care journey. This group will report to the CDO with recommendations on how OoH care should be taken forward in the future.
32 The Scottish Government will commission NES to develop a General Dental Practitioner Fellowship Programme to enhance clinical skills, develop quality improvement skills and support remote and rural working.
33 The Scottish Government will work in partnership with NHS Boards and NES to ensure protected learning time for practice staff.
34 The Scottish Government will introduce an occupational health service for GDPs, members of the dental team and other practice staff.
35 The Scottish Government will work with the Scottish Funding Council and the universities to widen and improve access to dental education in Scotland.
Chapter 9. Finance
36 The Scottish Government will work with NHS Boards and NSS to ensure that any PV issues are dealt with.
37 The Scottish Government will actively consider how we can increase the engagement and participation of the dental profession in HSCPs through our programme of stakeholder engagement.
Chapter 10. Conclusion and Next Steps
38 The Scottish Government will establish a number of short-life working groups to take forward the actions set out within this plan.
39 The CDO will produce a bi-annual newsletter to provide an update on progress toward implementation.
40 The Scottish Government will run a number of roadshow events to discuss the implementation arrangements for the OHIP.
41 The Scottish Government will work with the Scottish Health Council to develop a Patient Forum.

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