Job summary
Employer heading
Oral Health Promoter
Band 5
Covid-19 Vaccination
Getting vaccinated, and getting a booster, remains the best defence against COVID-19.
We encourage and support staff to get COVID-19 vaccine and a booster dose as and when they are eligible.
Please note in order to progress your application, your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers – North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of Whittington Health NHS Trust.
For our current apprenticeship vacancies, please go to https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship and use Keyword ‘Whittington’
By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.
Job overview
Oral Health Promoters ( 1.3wte)
Haringey, Enfield, Camden , Islington & Barnet - Whittington Health Dental Service
Band 5
Whittington Health Community Dental Service (CDS) operates across ten boroughs in North West and North Central London providing a comprehensive service for patients with complex needs, as well as evidence-based oral health promotion to key population groups, in line with national and local strategies for reducing inequalities in oral health. Socially excluded and vulnerable people suffer the effects of poor oral health with the added disadvantage of poor access to dental care and preventive services.
We are looking for an Oral Health Promoter to join our dynamic dental team, supporting the implementation and delivery of Supervised tooth brushing scheme across NCL along with our established core community based OHP programmes.
The post holder will be expected to work closely with members of the community dental team as well as liaising with other professional and carers in the Health Service, Social Care, Educational and Voluntary sector.
For further details / informal visits contact:
Farheen Naqvi, Oral Health Improvement Lead, Whittington Health Dental Services on 0203 316 8353 / [email protected]
Main duties of the job
This post will be based in the Community Dental Service. The principle care groups covered by Community Dental Services are:
- children with high levels of dental decay or with special needs,
- people with profound physical, mental or medical disabilities
The purpose of this job is to contribute toward the improvement of oral health and reduction of oral health inequalities by
- providing education and support
- maximising the availability of fluoride
- building skills, capacity and confidence in local people
- increasing access to local NHS dental services
Working for our organisation
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Support implementation and delivery of our established core community-based OHP programmes, including:
- Supervised tooth brushing scheme
- Brushing for Life
- Fluoride Varnish
- OHP outreach for vulnerable groups
- CQC OH standards in care homes
- Train and support frontline staff to make every contact count, following the “train the trainer” model ‘Tooth Champion’ training. Partner groups will include
- Schools and Early Years settings
- Children services including looked after children services
- Social care and home-support services including care homes
- Hospital and community-based health professionals
- Charity and voluntary sector organisation
- Provide oral health promotion and preventive care where appropriate to vulnerable groups and the general population in line with current guidelines such as Delivering Better Oral Healt
4.Work in a variety of settings including schools, children centres, nursing and residential homes, sheltered accommodation, hospital wards, day centres for adults and children with special needs.
- To work with communities to identify and address barriers and opportunities for oral health improvement e.g. Children Centre HEY award, Healthy school London award etc.
Person specification
Education / Qualifications
Essential criteria
- A relevant qualification in oral health promotion
- Significant experience in primary health care in the UK, part of this should have been in a work setting with relevance to oral health education or oral health promotion
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
- • Ability to deal with patients and carers needs in a caring and sensitive manner.
- • Ability to manage difficult or challenging behaviours in clients or patients
- • Knowledge and understanding of inequalities and barriers to oral health for socially excluded and vulnerable people and their relevance to oral and general health
- • Knowledge and understanding of equal opportunities and relevance to delivery of oral health initiatives
- • Knowledge of evidence-based and contemporary oral health promotion and preventive strategies
- • Good interpersonal and liaison skills
- • Good interpersonal and liaison skills
- • Good group work and training skills • Good leadership and teamwork skills
- • Ability to manage workload and time
- • Ability to set up and implement a project within a short timescale
- • Initiative and flexibility in dealing with unfamiliar issues
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- • Experience of working in primary health care in the UK
- • Experience of carrying out oral health promotion activities
- • Experience of delivering training sessions and presentations to groups
- • Experience of project planning and implementation
Desirable criteria
- • Experience of working in the Community Dental Service
- • Experience of working with people with challenging behaviour and special care needs
- • Experience of working with other agencies in meeting needs of patients
- • Experience of involvement in community-based oral health prevention and promotion programmes
- • Experience of training and supervision of staff
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Farheen Naqvi
- Job title
- Oral Health Improvement Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 020 3316 8353
- Additional information
For further details / informal visits contact:
Farheen Naqvi, Oral Health Improvement Lead, Whittington Health Dental Services on 0203 316 8353 / [email protected]
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