ABSTRACT
In response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to already oversubscribed specialist paediatric dental services, a pilot of an enhanced primary care paediatric dental pathway, known as the Child Friendly Dental Practice (CFDP) scheme, was commissioned by the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership. Supported by a transformational commissioning approach, the ambition of the CFDP pilot was to manage or stabilise the oral health of high-need paediatric patients who had been referred to specialist dental services within Community or Hospital Dental Service settings, through timely access to primary care clinicians who were confident and experienced in treating children. The theory of change of the CFDP pilot proposed that rapid access to enhanced primary dental care would reduce the need for onward referral to specialist paediatric dental services, whilst also stabilising the oral health of children who require more complex management in specialist services. A formative evaluation of the phase one pilot implementation of the CFDP Scheme has demonstrated the potential of the CFDP Scheme to improve access to dental services for paediatric patients referred from their General Dental Practitioner. Comparison of waiting times between the CFDP pathway and the standard paediatric dental referral pathway have revealed substantially reduced waiting times to access care along the CFDP pathway, while less than 30% of those who attended CFDPs required onward referral to specialist paediatric dental services. Encouragingly, similar attendance and treatment completion rates were noted among patients from all levels of socio-economic deprivation, reducing concerns regarding the potential for service-based interventions to increase oral health inequalities. Following successful completion of the phase one pilot implementation and evaluation, the CFDP Scheme has now been rolled out across all localities in Greater Manchester as part of a second phase pilot implementation. Public Health Competencies; Equitable healthcare provision, Partnership working, Evidence-based public health, Systems thinking, Transformational commissioning, Healthcare evaluation.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Oral Health , Child , Humans , Dentists , Pandemics , Professional Role , Dental CareABSTRACT
The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has raised the profile and level of interest in the use, acceptability, safety, and effectiveness of virtual outpatient consultations and telemedicine. These models of care are not new but a number of challenges have so far hindered widespread take-up and endorsement of these ways of working. With the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote and virtual working and consultation have become the default. This paper explores our experience of and learning from virtual and remote consultation and questions how this experience can be retained and developed for the future. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2021;2(5):301-304.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 brought a lot of children's routine clinical services in the UK to a complete halt in March 2020. The NHS had to radically change the way clinical services are provided with the rapid introduction of telemedicine, virtual consultations, and video conferencing facilities to support team working. This paper describes how Peterborough Child Development Centre rapidly redesigned the services with digital tools to continue offering neurodevelopmental and neurodisability services more virtually. We demonstrate how we adapted our approaches to assess and manage complex long-term conditions with improved quality and outcomes by using digital tools. The changes to the clinical processes and systems are here to stay beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and have the potential to revolutionise the services.