It is just under 2 years since, the NICE Quality Standard 'Oral Care in Care Homes ‘was published.
In it are recommendations that residents in care homes have their oral health needs assessed on admission and recorded in their personal care plans, and are supported to clean their teeth twice a day and/or their dentures daily.
Why do I want to talk about this and bring it to your attention now?
Recently, we have heard from both care home customers and CQC inspectors that this is an area of focus for CQC during inspections.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) expects care managers to take account of the nationally recognised guidance, including CQC Guidance from NICE, in essence, CQC want to see care homes prioritizing oral care.
Also, being able to evidence how you support residents to maintain good oral health will help you to demonstrate that your service is both effective and responsive
Included in the guide below are the tools to help you make these improvements:
We know that many of you social care managers and your staff out there know what is expected of you when it comes to supporting your residents with oral care, but due to a lack of available training, fit for purpose oral care product solutions, tools and resources, are unaware of the best practices and how to implement these.
Here at Hcsuk, we really wanted to help and support you to achieve oral care compliancy, and therefore, in September 2017, we were really proud to team up with Jane Peterson, RDH, BSc, Dental and Healthcare Professional and founder of oral health training company Oral Health Matters, to host:
Our First CPD Accredited Seminar - ‘How to achieve CQC compliancy in oral care for adults in care homes’ - Helping care homes to deliver excellent oral care to the ladies and gents they support.
At the seminar, all of our delegates got the chance to get hands on and try some best practice oral care techniques on each other and manage oral care for the people they support, gained knowledge about the latest innovative and fit for purpose oral care product solutions to use (and more importantly which products to avoid) and they also got the chance to practice on each other, even our MD Jo didn’t escape without being a guinea pig!
As always, Jo set the tone of the event so that everyone felt confident and safe to address concerns and talk through problems, thus creating a better learning experience for all and allowing any queries to be addressed fully.
One of the course delegates told us afterwards:
“I have learnt how crucial oral care is to ones wellbeing, and that if it isn’t a priority it can cause problems including major illnesses. I found the course friendly and professionally approached.â€
One of the biggest impacts of the course so far has been the decision for the delegates to ensure there are Oral Care Champions in their care homes, those people who will be the “go-to†experts on looking after residents’ oral care.
A group of delegates from outstanding care home Landermeads in Chilwell, Nottingham proudly told us that they are making oral care an area of excellence in their home and MD Jo Bonser has been asked to help support this objective by attending senior leadership meetings to inspire the team and roll out training.
Ros Heath, Director at Landermeads, sent this message after 3 members of her team attended the training:
‘Wonderful training today – my staff came back inspired!! Thank you xx"
Ros has also recently us to run a refresher training course for her staff and new team members, following how much they learned on our first course.
We love hosting these events, knowing that they’ve made a difference to peoples’ lives through the training and knowledge they provide.
If you missed out on this one, and would like more information or would be interested in you or members of your team attending a future similar event then please get in touch by email at sales@hcsuk.co.uk.
You can also find a range of articles on the blog talking about various tools and tips for helping those in your care have better oral health.
