Job responsibilities
Clinical Care
To contribute to all aspects of care provided by Wolverhampton Special care Dental Service as specified in the service level agreement
To provide high quality clinical care for patients in special care groups specifically but not restricted to the following groups of patients:
v Learning Disability adults
v Sedation
- To undertake high quality clinical workload within the service appropriate to the nature of patient care the service has agreed to provide.
To work with the senior dental nurse and statutory and voluntary organisations to identify special care patients services for the provision of treatment for these patients.
To participate in the development of care pathway for the provision of treatment under General Anaesthesia and the development of services for special needs patients in the appropriate setting
To participate in the delivery of Comprehensive Dental Care under General Anaesthetic at New Cross Hospital for Special Care patients
To take referrals and provide advice to clinicians particularly for, but not restricted to special care adults and anxious patients when necessary.
To accept direct referrals of Special Needs patients from General Dental Practitioners and NHS staff and those from other agencies
Treatment will be undertaken at fixed and mobile clinics or hospital dental departments located in any part of Wolverhampton together with any related domiciliary care, as determined by the Clinical Director
To provide emergency domiciliary care as required
May be required to undertake the duties at New Cross hospital (dependent upon experience) as specified in the Service Level Agreement and as directed by the consultants in maxilofacial surgery. This may also include the general anaesthetic paediatric exodontia sessions.
To contribute to the Oral Health Promotion programme.
To ensure that the correct Oral Health Promotion principals in line with Delivering Better Oral Health (DH 2009), are adopted for individual patients in the prevention of dental disease
Management and Leadership
To contribute to the management and development of the dental services in Wolverhampton and the business planning process as part of the senior clinical team.
To contribute to the implementation of a strategy for improving the dental health of special care patients in Wolverhampton.
To contribute to the implementation of a strategy for dental care for young adults with special needs leaving school
To lead on the development of the anxious patient pathway and sedation services for special needs patients
To develop further protocols together with senior nursing colleagues as the need arises.
To ensure that clinical and other workload is scheduled and completed on time
To ensure that proper standards appropriate to a clinical area, including control of infection procedures are maintained
To ensure the efficient and effective use of resources
To participate in the development and training of other grades of staff, in use of inhalation sedation, intravenous sedation & intranasal sedation
To assist in identifying and meeting staff training needs through the individual review process
To contribute to the day to day management of the clinical Special Care Dental Service, in particular sickness monitoring.
Communication
Communicate with a range of patients and families on complex clinical issue and/or in difficult situations
Communicate with the clinical team and peers in a range of clinical and/or leadership situations in a professional and appropriate manner
Communicate with other health and social care professionals on a range of issues relating to oral health and oral health care
To liaise with other health and social care professionals who care for the patients in the above groups to provide a service appropriate to their needs. This will include communication with the carers about the care provided and recording this in the patients clinical and dental notes.
To liaise with members of the dental profession and other professionals within and outside the Trust to promote:
v The dental and general health of individual patients
v The provision of dental services to particular care groups within the population as part of the overall provision of health care to those groups
Professionalism
To contribute to the professional clinical improvement groups and participate in clinical governance activities within the dental service to improve the quality of care for patients of the service
To participate in a system of appraisals and such continuing education as may be considered necessary for personal development or to meet the organisational needs identified in the business plan
To minimise the risks by following and developing systems of safe working within the dental service
To ensure the maintenance of confidentiality of personal health data, including patient records, in accordance with established procedures
To ensure the maintenance of high standards of conduct in relation to patients and the general public
To ensure that agreed operational procedures within the Trust are followed
Training
To provide training and development opportunities for clinicians and dental nurses in the care of special care dental patients.
To provide training for Dental Foundation Trainees when required.
To provide supervision and training for students (dental, therapist and hygienists)
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
To follow GDC and other professional guidelines.
To follow Health and Safety instructions in accordance with Trust procedures within the place of work and to be responsible for your own health and safety within the workplace.
To undertake other duties to meet the changing needs and priorities of the Trust, as required.
WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
The dentist will be accountable to the Clinical Lead of Special Care Dental Service.
The dentist will provide advice and training to other members of the dental team in their area of their expertise
The dentist will manage more junior dentists and therapists as required
The dentist will supervise and direct work of any dental surgery assistant(s) working with them liaising with the Senior Nurse who has first line management responsibility for dental nurses.
The dentist will supervise and monitor dental therapists.
The dentist will liaise and collaborate as necessary with other members of the dental profession and with other health service and local authority staff.
The post holder will be asked to work within other localities depending on the needs of the service.
The above principal duties represent the main activities of the post as envisaged at the time of writing. There are many minor duties implicit in these main duties and the nature of the job could change according to the development of dental services. Any significant changes in the duties and responsibilities will be agreed with the post holder.
