by Andy Moran

CDS CiC is an award winning, employee owned, social enterprise providing community dental services to the NHS across much of the East of England and the Midlands and Central England.

Patients are some of the most vulnerable in society including people with learning disabilities, mental health issues and severe dental anxiety, referred by GDPs and other health and social care professionals. CDS also delivers evidence-based oral health improvement programmes to improve oral health in many different communities and settings.

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Before I joined CDS, I worked as a Senior Advisor and Commercial Hospital Account Manager. When I began my position, I needed to obtain an overview of all the current pathways as well as train in our computer system R4, and service specification. I wanted to join CDS as I take pride in being part of a patient's journey to receive any sort of treatment, and this was a new role that gave me an opportunity to bring in new ideas to improve that journey. My previous job started to be restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so I saw this role as a suitable change just at the right time.

I believe the core skills one needs to do a role like mine is work prioritisation, knowledge of Microsoft Excel and team management skills.

We are a referral only service providing special care dentistry for people unable to be treated by high street dentists. A typical day for me is to ensure all new referrals are triaged within the KPI, so I spend each morning thinking about what work takes priority and will distribute out to the team accordingly. I will always be checking my emails throughout the day, so I like to make myself available for any colleagues if I am needed urgently.

If I have any spare time throughout the day, then I am checking and collating data and information. I created my own tracker to ensure invitations are sent out to patients within the set KPIs. I collate the data and information from my spreadsheets and report this back to my line manager and senior dental nurses to keep them aware of waiting lists at each clinic. By creating these reports, we have a thorough understanding of how many patients are currently waiting for new assessment appointments at each clinic. It's a good way to know off the top of my head which clinics are busy and which ones may potentially have space to squeeze in any more urgent appointments. And finally, during the last few minutes of each day, I will ensure any outstanding emails are acknowledged.

Working with CDS allows me freedom in my role, so I can use my own ideas to improve the referral process, and to really chip away at the backlog caused by Covid-19. I am excited about the opportunity for the SPA team to grow and to take on new, varied projects. There seems to be a lot of respect throughout the whole organisation, and I feel I have made a worthwhile contribution in my first 10 months here and am excited to see how the SPA team will evolve in the future.