Quality standard
Quality statement 4: Routine attendance after emergency care
Quality statement 4: Routine attendance after emergency care
Quality statement
Dental practices providing emergency care to people who do not have a regular dentist give information about the benefits of attending for routine care and how a local dentist can be found.
Rationale
People should be encouraged to attend a general dental practice routinely to help them maintain good oral health. This can reduce problems and the associated costs in the long term. For people who do not have a regular dentist, this contact provides an opportunity for the dental practice team to establish a positive relationship with them and to help them to find a local dentist to attend regularly. For example, dental practice teams can point people to information about local services on the NHS website.
Quality measures
The following measures can be used to assess the quality of care or service provision specified in the statement. They are examples of how the statement can be measured, and can be adapted and used flexibly.
Structure
Evidence of local arrangements to ensure that dental practices providing emergency care give information to people who do not have a regular dentist about the benefits of attending for routine care and how they can find a local dentist.
Data source: Local data collection.
Process
Proportion of emergency attendances at dental practices of people who do not have a regular dentist where information about the benefits of attending for routine care and how to find a local dentist was given.
Numerator – number in the denominator where people were given information about the benefits of attending for routine care and how they can find a local dentist.
Denominator – number of emergency attendances at general dental practices of people who do not have a regular dentist.
Data source: Local data collection.
Outcome
a) Adults who were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months.
Data source: Local data collection. NHS Dental Statistics for England.
b) Children who were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months.
Data source: Local data collection. NHS Dental Statistics for England.
What the quality statement means for different audiences
Service providers (general dental practices that provide emergency care) ensure information is available about the benefits of attending for routine care and how to find a local dentist.
Dental care professionals (such as dentists and dental nurses) ensure that they establish positive relationships with people not registered with a dentist and give information about the benefits of attending for routine care and how to find a local dentist.
Commissioners (NHS England) ensure that they commission services in which dental practices providing emergency care give information to people who do not have a regular dentist about the benefits of attending for routine care and how to find a local dentist.
People who visit a dentist as an emergency and do not have a regular dentist are given information about the benefits of going back for routine check‑ups and how they can find a local dentist.
Source guidance
Oral health promotion: general dental practice. NICE guideline NG30 (2015), recommendations 1.2.2 and 1.2.3