Dental Therapist / Hygienist, SW Cleft Service

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We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within the Trust.

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Job overview

Want to do something different? Are you looking for a new challenge in your career?

We are recruiting for a dental therapist/hygienist in the South West Cleft Service and are looking for a dynamic and enthusiastic individual to join our supportive multi-disciplinary team.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a dental therapist or hygienist to work within a regional Cleft centre. This role can be as challenging as it is rewarding and will provide the incumbent post holder with the potential to further their skills utilising the full range of treatments with support from paediatric and restorative dentists, orthodontists, and surgeons.

Applications are invited from caring and enthusiastic dental therapists/hygienists for this post which will be based in the Bristol Dental Hospital at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston. The post holder will deliver dental care and advice to adult and paediatric patients accessing the South West Cleft Service as prescribed by a dentist/orthodontist/surgeon within the service.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide a dental hygiene/therapy service at Bristol Dental Hospital for patients with cleft lip and/or palate, and similar conditions, who are under the care of the Consultant Cleft Orthodontist, Consultant Cleft and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Consultants in Paediatric and Restorative Dentistry and the Special Care service.

The priority patient group for this post is children and adults born with cleft lip and/or palate, under the care of the South West Cleft Service. The post holder will provide clinical care and preventative treatment to this patient group. A proportion of this cohort have complex needs and patients with high levels of anxiety and challenging behaviour also require dental care.

The work will cover the full range of treatments currently permitted under the General Dental Council Regulations, including all extended duties for Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists, provided that specific clinical duties are only undertaken if trained and competent to do so.

The post holder will take responsibility for implementing the hospital’s oral health policy, and may propose changes to practices/procedures, within the South West Cleft Service in the Bristol Dental Hospital.

Working for our organisation

Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For a more detailed job description, main responsibilities, and person specification, please refer to the job description document attached to this vacancy.

Person specification

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience of working with children and adults with complex needs
• Knowledge of safeguarding issues
• Working within a team (and ability to self-direct their workload)

Skills and Abilities

• Highly specialist manual dexterity, with the skills to provide the full range of treatments currently permitted under the General Dental Council’s Scope of Practice including all extended duties for dental hygienists
• Competence to develop oral healthcare services for designated groups of patients across the trust
• Communication and empathetic skills with patients at a level more advanced than those required for routine care in a general setting
• Ability to work positively and professionally with a variety of staff eg. surgeons, orthodontists, dental nurses, technicians and administrative staff
• Sufficient computer and keyboard skills

• General knowledge of the patient’s journey from birth to 20 years across all disciplines for patients born with an orofacial cleft
• Knowledge of the dental and oral health issues relating to patients born with orofacial clefting
• Knowledge of the care of patients undergoing treatment for cancer of the head and neck and special care dentistry

Qualifications and Training

• Degree / Diploma in Dental Hygiene and/or Dental Therapy plus demonstrative experience of working with children and adults with complex needs
• GDC dental care professionals registration
• Professional portfolio of continuing professional development

Aptitudes

• Respecting Everyone
• Embracing Change
• Recognising Success
• Working Together

• As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.
• The Trust is committed to investing in and caring for all our staff. We will support you in maintaining and improving your health and wellbeing, as well as your career development through management and training support - developing exceptional people for exceptional careers.
• UHBW is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.
• To comply with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 all applicants must be able to speak fluent English to an appropriate standard which will be assessed at Interview.
• If you require sponsorship for a visa to work in the UK, to avoid disappointment, please check to ensure you are eligible under the UKVI points based system.
• The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.
• By applying for this post, you are agreeing to University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
• Please be aware of scams – unless specified above, we will only communicate with you via @recruit.trac.jobs or nhs.net e-mails and we will never ask you for any payments.

IMPORTANT:

Please note that if you apply for a position with this Trust, you may be contacted via Trac or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your Trac account and email accounts. We may also contact you by texting the mobile number, if provided, on the application form.

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date. Therefore, please apply for this post as soon as you can, if you are interested and you meet the requirements of the Person Specification

Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.

As a guide interviews should usually take place within 3 weeks of the closing date.

When providing employment reference details, please provide correct work-related email addresses so references can be sought promptly when we are looking to progress your application. Your referee must all be known to you in a line manager or professional lead capacity.