This is a joint initiative between HEE and NHS England under the direction of Sara Hurley, chief dental officer and Professor Stephen Lambert-Humble MBE, postgraduate dental dean for Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
The first four fellows are Yasmin Allen, Nikki Patel, Sami Stagnell and Shan Ellahi. They have a range of experience from within different sectors of dentistry and were selected to bring a diversity of experience to the fellowships. Yasmin told the British Dental Journal: “This is the first post of its kind of this type focussing on leadership and management skills especially related to commissioning within dentistry.”
The fellows will work towards a certificate in leadership and commissioning, delivered by the University of Brighton. The aim is to provide fellows with the skills necessary to work within a rapidly changing environment of NHS dentistry and to be equipped to deal with the opportunities of working in a senior role.
The four fellows will help deliver a range of projects across the portfolio of HEE and NHS England including:
- A review of unscheduled dental care in England.
- Health improvement with a focus on oral hydration, nutrition and mouth care in care homes and hospitals.
- Interdisciplinary working between pharmacists and dentists to improve prescribing decisions and oral health advice.
- Developing patient safety and incident management processes within dental services.
- Improving the availability of data and information systems for dental clinical commissioning.
- Supporting the development of dental services in response to the Five Year Forward View.
Janet Clarke MBE, deputy chief dental officer, said, “The opportunity to contribute to live projects within dental commissioning will equip these fellows with vital skills, but also provide an in depth understanding of the complexity of clinical leadership. Dentistry needs clinical leaders at every stage in their career, to guide service development and delivery, to ensure that our patients get the services they need and deserve.”
Professor Lambert-Humble MBE said, “Clinical leadership and management are essential skills to empower our young clinicians, and it is crucial that this is developed at an early stage in their careers. This is an excellent opportunity to learn first hand what happens behind the scenes in dentistry, and help the training of people who will be well placed to become the future leaders in dentistry. In my opinion, dentistry needs to work much more closely with other areas of Health and Social Care, learning from and collaborating with other groups to ensure oral health is seen as a fundamental part of the general health improvement agenda.”
Sam Shah, programme director for Clinical Leadership, said, “Dental teams are vital to clinical commissioning and the future of the profession relies on well trained clinical leaders. The National Clinical Fellows Scheme and the Darzi Programme have both demonstrated the benefits of investing in clinical leadership. I hope this initiative inspires the profession and brings about a change in culture.”
For information on upcoming events arranged by NHS England in collaboration with HEE working across Kent, Surrey and Sussex, visit http://bit.ly/1Kqw312