NHS Devon - Dental Service for People with Complex Needs

NHS Devon is seeking expressions of interest to provide a Dental Service for People with Complex Needs.

The service will provide oral health services to people who are homeless and have complex and longstanding oral healthcare needs.

Aims: To provide a full range of dental services to patients who are homeless and have complex and long-standing health needs. Typically, individuals who are homelessness have a number of other significant problems e.g. substance misuse, contact with the Criminal Justice System (CJS) and mental health problems, resulting in them not being engaged effectively with standard dental services. Most individuals will have a co-existing developmental disorder, prior trauma or attachment problems. Typically such individuals include those who are:

• Street homeless, living in hostels or supported (often temporary) housing for complex needs, informal 'sofa surfing'.
• Disengaged except contact with CJS
• Selling sex in order to fund substance use or under coercion

To provide urgent dental services to patients under active care of the service five days per week during normal opening times.

Objectives:

• To improve the oral health of patients treated
• To provide dental and prevention services, in order to address oral health needs
• To support patients to maintain good oral health
• To promote inclusive dental healthcare and support early intervention in the community with timely treatment, through oral health advice, treatment and signposting where appropriate as defined in national guidance.

The service will:

• Target and recruit patients with long-standing dental needs through pathways developed in partnership with local community-based organisations to offer assessment of oral need and treatment planning. Where dental treatment needs are identified, the most appropriate team member will provide the treatment.
• Receive referrals from local health and community Services for the provision of urgent and routine dental care.
• Any patient receiving dental care delivered by the provider will be entitled to guarantee and remedial treatment in line with national guidance for NHS dental services.
• Establish a quality assurance programme working with the commissioner to evidence impact of the service
• Promote the development of dentistry as part of a holistic approach to address physical health, mental health and social care needs in this group in accordance with every contact counts and the wider work of the Complex Needs service in Plymouth.
• Develop evidence of best practice for wider dissemination and sharing

Additional information: This notice is an information gathering exercise rather than a call for competition in its own right, and therefore publication or response does not commit NHS Devon or respondents to a future procurement, nor provide any process exemptions or preferential treatment to any parties expressing an interest. NHS Devon will not be liable for costs incurred by any interested party in participating in this exercise.

In order to express an interest, Please email scwcsu.clinical.procurement@nhs.net and state 'NHS Devon - Dental Service for People with Complex Needs Expression of Interest' in the subject box. Please provide your organisation name, address, a contact name, telephone number and email address.

A confirmation of receipt will be issued within 24 hours.

The services are healthcare services falling within Schedule 3 to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations") which are not subject to the full regime of the Regulations, but is instead governed by the "Light Touch Regime" contained within Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Regulations (Regulations 74 to 77).