What are they?
The concept of a Centre for Dental Development is to bring together education, training and service delivery with the aim of retaining a NHS dental workforce. Centres for Dental Development are referenced in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. Ideally these would be situated in identified areas of need from a patient need and workforce point of view.
What do they hope to achieve?
- Support education and training across the whole dental training pathway for dentists and DCPs, including final year undergraduate students and postgraduate trainees;
- Provide a base for the assessment and induction of new dentists and DCPs, especially those who have trained outside the UK;
- Support the long term dental workforce.
What else might they achieve?
They could be expanded to include Dental Core and Specialty training placements, as well as Level 2 training. Also they could be developed to include a multi-professional training approach to bring together other elements of oral health training and provision, including prevention, integrated into a multi professional delivery model in its locality.
The centres could also provide supervised work experience as part of widening participation schemes.
What are the potential benefits?
- Improve training opportunities for dentists and DCPs particularly in areas of high needs.
- Facilitate local uptake of career opportunities in dentistry and oral health.
- Provide a support base for the dental workforce in the area.
- Rapid onboarding of suitably qualified overseas dentists.
- Provide a centre for the assessment and induction of dentists and DCPs who qualify outside of the UK to enable them to deliver safe NHS dental care.
- Improve recruitment and retention of dentists and DCPs by providing a support network which can attract experienced dentists and DCPs to work fully or partly in a ‘flagship’ facility.
- Increase the supply of a suitably qualified experienced workforce capable of delivering service, education and training by offering opportunities to develop their career pathways within the NHS.
- Provide continuity of training pathways and career opportunities to support retention.
Are any planned for London?
NHSE WT & E (formerly known as HEE) are responsible for oversight of all postgraduate dental training and are currently working with other stakeholders in identifying and developing potential sites.
