Senior Dental Officer
Job overview
The Cumbria Special Care and Community Dental Service (CDS) is seeking to recruit compassionate and motivated individuals to come and join our existing team of highly skilled clinicians and support staff providing comprehensive dental care to our patients in the Lake District.
We are looking for dentists with a passion for child and adult dental health who are keen to make a difference to the patients seen by our service. Being able to communicate effectively with both patients and staff is essential as you will be responsible for looking after some of the most vulnerable people in society.
The Senior Dental Officer is a position of clinical leadership within the Allerdale and Copeland locality.
The post holder is expected to be professional, caring and have excellent clinical skills. They should deliver care that is centred on the patient and carer and in line with latest guidance, with kindness at its core. They will have outstanding communication skills and the ability to present ideas to both patients and the team.They will deliver care, as required, in a variety of locations within the defined localities of Allerdale and Copeland.
Main duties of the job
The role of the Cumbria Special Care and Community Dental Service is to provide services that improve the health and well-being of the local community, offer value for money, are of the highest quality and meet the needs of the local population.Wherever possible, services are delivered as close to home as possible.
The Cumbria Special Care and Community Dental Service provides a range of community services across Cumbria including:
- IV & IHS Sedation Service
- Service for patients with additional needs / learning disabilities
- General Anaesthetic Services
- Emergency Dental Service
- Assessments for Domiciliary Care.
Other essential services provided include oral health improvement and clinical prevention programmes; and, involvement in national dental epidemiological surveys and screening programmes.
The Senior Dental Officer will support with clinical care to children and adults with specific requirements on referral. They will be an empathic, caring individual with high standards in clinical care. The ability to deliver conscious sedation would be beneficial.
The position is based at Cleator Moor Dental Centre- a modern 6 surgery site with digital radiography, piped gases and wheelchair tipper.
Relocation expenses may be provided.
Working for our organisation
At NCIC, we have an ambition to deliver outstanding healthcare services to the population of North Cumbria. The Trust is committed to creating a centre of excellence in providing rural and remote healthcare and provides a wide range of community and acute services throughout our county.
Our 5 key principles demonstrate our belief in the delivery of ‘safe, high quality care every time':
- Being a clinically led organisation
- Quality and safety at the heart of our Trust
- A positive patient experience every time
- A great place to work
- Managing our money well
As an organisation we are serious about supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our local community and are very much focused on being an inclusive and compassionate place to work.
Across the North East and North Cumbria we are working together to deliver our ambition to be the greenest region in England by 2030. All staff are expected to support sustainability.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The Senior Dental Officer is a position of clinical leadership within the Allerdale and Copeland locality.
The post holder is expected to be professional, caring and have excellent clinical skills. They should deliver care that is centred on the patient and carer and in line with latest guidance, with kindness at its core. They will have outstanding communication skills and the ability to present ideas to both patients and the team.They will deliver care, as required, in a variety of locations within the defined localities of Allerdale and Copeland.
They will be expected to support and drive innovation and clinical excellence in the service and provide advice and support to the dental senior management team as required. They will be able to lead their immediate clinical team and mentor junior team members if required.Where possible they will possess current competency in dental sedation.
The post holder will be expected to have a high level of communication skills and regularly communicate with professionals specific to the role including:
- Dentists and Restorative Consultants
- Dental Nurses
- Oral Health Improvement Team
- Public
- Other NHS organisations and professionals such as GPs, District Nurses, Health Care Assistants, Health Visitors etc.
- Council departments and relevant Directorate teams
- Community Groups
- Volunteers
- Private organisations/workplaces
- Nursing home and residential care accommodation
- Clinical Director
§ Trust Wide Service Manager
§ Dental Nurse Manager
§ Clinical Lead’s
§ Oral Surgery Department/Administrative Support
§ Orthodontic Department/Administrative Support
§ Head and Neck Department/Administrative Support
§ Maxillo Facial Secretaries/Administrators
§ Senior clinical staff
§ Locality teams
§ Safeguarding
§ Patients and carers
§ GPs/ Practice Staff
§ Commissioners
§ Partnership organisations e.g. County Council, Social Services, Voluntary Services
§ Members of the public
Please see attached job description for full details.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- BDS or equivalent
- Current NHSE performer number
- Current registration with GDC
- Postgraduate qualification in sedation
- Postgraduate qualification in Special Care Dentistry or Paediatric Dentistry
Experience
Essential criteria- Experience of and an understanding of the challenges presented by special care patients.
- Minimum of five years’ experience of postgraduate dental clinical activity
- Experience of working in collaboration with other health care professionals
- Experience of dealing with confidential and sensitive material
- Experience of clinical audit
- Experience of treating patients under General Anaesthesia
- Experience of mentoring or work as a Clinical Supervisor/Educational Supervisor
- Experience in the delivery of domiciliary dental care.
- Proven experience and competence in Special Care Dentistry
- Competency in the treatment of patients using the techniques of conscious sedation
Knowledge
Essential criteria- Basic Life Support and the skills to lead a medical emergency
- Knowledge of Specialist Society guidelines for clinical care
- Legislative framework governing the delivery of oral health care in England
- Understanding of basic physiology and medical conditions that may cause complications in the delivery of dentistry
- Current commissioning guidelines in sedation, special care and paediatric dentistry
- Clinical and restorative dentistry
- ILS/PILS competency
- Knowledge of alternative methods of and adjuncts to communication
- Knowledge of regulators of dental care
Skills
Essential criteria- Organisational and leadership skills: ability to communicate with, support and motivate team
- Able to present to a small group.
- Computer literacy and the ability to use office-type software packages, e.g. Word and Excel.
- Excellent inter-personal and clinical skills to assist in the management of highly anxious patients
- Able to prioritise own work and be flexible when required
- Knowledge of Dentally dental software system
- Coaching and mentoring skills