In July 2025 the North West London Integrated Care Board primary care team approached the North West London LDC with a proposal to form a Dental Community of Practice.
The proposal is the first of its kind in London to be formalised as a way to improve local working between dental practices, with referral services and wider integrated models of care in London and the LDC is excited to be part of its development.
The NHS, and NHS dentistry, is going through a lot of change at the moment with the publication of the new ICB framework and the NHS 10 Year Plan, as well as the dental pilots starting in North West London and proposed changes to the dental contract. As a result this initiative is all the more timely and important as a way of bringing practices together, not only to share experiences but also to ensure that NHS England funded training is relevant and meeting local needs, that pathways are clear into CDS and secondary care and that practices are working in line with local priorities.
The Community of Practice will initially focus on those practices involved in the dental pilots being established in North West London. It will aim to support professional development in line with pilot objectives, but also more widely by ensuring that practitioners are upskilled to reduce referrals into CDS. The Community of Practice will also build on the pilots’ objective of embedding dental practices into local communities, by improving links with family health centres and other relevant local hubs.
The LDC will continue to be the voice of the profession at the local level and will ensure that issues are raised appropriately and that the profession’s views are known to policy makers. This exciting and new proposed way of working ensures stronger lines of communication for the profession, especially when it comes to identifying CPD requirements and boosting clinical confidence.
