Cumbria – where NHS dentistry review team member Eric Rooney is the consultant in dental public health – is to be one of the first pilot site primary care trusts (PCTs) to trial review leader Jimmy Steele's recommendation.
The county has been chosen to spearhead the schemes which will see NHS dental teams providing more preventive dental care to improve oral health.
One of around 30 sites selected across the country, it will also seek to improve patient access and test new ways of measuring quality from April, the Department of Health (DoH) has announced.
NHS dental surgeries across Cumbria will be given the opportunity to build on work already taking place in West Cumbria, Kendal, Appleby, Wigton and Brampton.
The DoH said last week that PCTs and practices had ‘responded well' to a call for pilot sites by the Steele implementation board.
These also included City and Hackney PCT, in east London, where a new ‘blended contract' is being trialled under which dentists are directly rewarded for the number of patients seen, the level of treatment each patient receives and the quality of that care.
Pilots will also offer treatments like fluoride varnish, support to help people quit smoking and general advice on diet and nutrition.
NHS Cumbria's Eric Rooney, who was one of the team of four involved in the independent review, said: ‘We are delighted to have been selected to pilot these developments as part of the implementation of the national review of NHS dentistry.
‘The work we are doing in Cumbria to improve both the quality and quantity of NHS dentistry is extremely important.
‘These pilots will help to ensure that alongside the extra dental places we are introducing, people will be given the support and information they need to improve their oral health.'
More than 37,000 new dental places have been created in Cumbria over the last year and plans are being developed for an additional 22,500, expected to become available to patients from the end of this year.
