Hospital dentistry: GIRFT Programme National Specialty Report (September 2021)

Summary

Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) is designed to improve the quality of care within the NHS by reducing unwarranted variations. By tackling variations in the way services are delivered across the NHS, and by sharing best practice between trusts, GIRFT identifies changes that will help improve care and patient outcomes, as well as delivering efficiencies such as the reduction of unnecessary procedures and cost savings.

Content

Hospital dentistry deals with the most complex dental work, which accounts for about 5% of procedures in England. The GIRFT hospital dentistry report presents 21 recommendations to improve patient experience, which cover three main themes:

1. Ensuring all healthcare workers understand and promote good oral health, especially for children
2. Creating equal access to treatment
3. Addressing workforce and training issues to meet future demand

It also highlights that hospital dentistry needs to improve the way it records treatment and outcome data.

You will need a FutureNHS account to view this report, or you can watch a short video summary which includes key recommendations.