Community Dental Services in Partnership across the Thames Valley

A pioneering initiative has been created across the Thames Valley, in the Thames Valley Community Dental Services Partnership. The Partnership agreement is a collaboration between Berkshire Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and Central and North West NHS Foundation Trust.

All three Trusts have agreed to work together to improve the overall value of care for patients, working together to deliver a unified and integrated approach to the provision of specialist-led dentistry including aligning patient pathways, sharing best practices and collaborative learning.

The Thames Valley Community Dental Service Partnership provides dental care for children, young people and adults with additional and complex needs who require more specialised care that cannot be provided by the general dental service. 

Hugh O’Keeffe, Senior Commissioning Manager Dental, NHS England – South East commented: “The Community Dental Services provide crucial services to some of the most vulnerable people in our community providing both dental treatment when needed and improving the oral health of those who attend the service. The collaborative agreement between the Thames Valley Community Dental Services builds on strong working relationships developed over many years through best practice systems to seek to continually improve care to patients.”

This kind of proactive and innovative partnership working is the first of its kind within Community Dental Services and has been called trailblazing by Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire Integrated Care Board!

The aims of the Partnership are:

• Partnership - Working across the region to improve patient care and reduce inequalities.
• Quality Care - Delivering the best possible services for our patients and supporting those most at-risk
• Value for Money - Ensuring financial sustainability and delivering best outcomes for our investment

Rosalind Mitchell (Clinical Director and Deputy Chief Medical Officer (Quality and Patient Safety), Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust) , Shabnum Ali (Clinical Director, Berkshire Health NHS Foundation Trust) and Kirsten Criggie (Assistant Clinical Director, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) jointly expressed: “Being part of this exciting collaborative partnership has many benefits such as shared learning between clinicians and projects that are integrated across all 3 trusts. We’re really looking forward to seeing how this partnership will evolve moving forward and more importantly seeing how this will improve care for our patients across the Thames Valley.”

To find out more about the Service please visit: http://www.thamesvalleycommunitydental.nhs.uk/