Oral Health Promoter

Whittington Hospital NHS Trust; Camden Town; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

A community health organization in Camden Town is seeking an Oral Health Promoter to enhance oral health initiatives for vulnerable groups. This role focuses on providing education, maximizing fluoride access, and improving service access for the elderly and other at-risk populations. The ideal candidate will have significant experience in primary healthcare and needs to manage projects independently. A compassionate approach and knowledge of dental inequalities are essential for success in this position.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in primary health care, ideally related to oral health.
• Caring and sensitive approach to patient needs.
• Understanding of social exclusion in oral health.

Responsibilities

• Provide education and support for oral health.
• Maximize fluoride availability in vulnerable communities.
• Increase access to NHS dental services.

Skills

Ability to deal with patients and carers needs

Knowledge of inequalities in oral health

Good interpersonal and liaison skills

Ability to manage workload and time

Ability to implement projects

Education

Experience in primary health care in the UK

Job description

Whittington Health Community Dental Service (CDS) operates across ten boroughs in Northwest 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.

We are seeking an Oral Health Promoter to join our dynamic community dental team. The successful candidate will support the delivery of oral health initiatives for elderly people and vulnerable groups across Camden and Islington boroughs. The role includes implementing oral health related CQC standards in care homes, as well as working with and supporting other vulnerable groups such as adult with special needs, homeless people, mental health, refugees and asylum seekers and contributing to our well-established community-based OHP programmes. The post holder will work directly with stakeholders such as care homes, hostels, community organisations, charity organisation, mental health services, and refugee support programmes while supporting preventative oral health initiatives and promoting access to appropriate dental services.

Main duties of the job

This post will be based in the Community Dental Service. The principal care groups covered by Community Dental Services are:

Frail and housebound older people

Adults with high levels of dental decay or with special needs

People with profound physical, mental or medical disabilities

Homeless people, drug and alcohol users, refugees, asylum seekers,

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

About us

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 Trustbelieves 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.

Job responsibilities

This post will be based in the Community Dental Service. The principal care groups covered by Community Dental Services are:

Frail and housebound older people

Adults with high levels of dental decay or with special needs

People with profound physical, mental or medical disabilities

Homeless people, drug and alcohol users, refugees, asylum seekers,

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

The main focus of this role is Oral Health Promotion to vulnerable adults in the London Borough of Camden and London Borough of Islington including young adults with special needs. The ability to work independently and flexibly is an essential part of this post.

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

• 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

• 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
• 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

• 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
• 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

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£37,259 to £45,356 a yearPer Annum Including HCAs