On 12th November, a panel of community pharmacists and dental professionals will explore how closer collaboration could improve patient care and oral health.
Supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the initiative aims to identify key opportunities for closer pharmacy-dental collaboration.
The roundtable will examine current barriers and gaps, identify priorities for education and support, and inform a future research project, once greater needs in knowledge, confidence, training and support are better understood.
Dental Therapist Victoria Wilson, and newly appointed Dental Research Enabler for the NIHR in the South East, commented: “Community Pharmacy England reports that around 1.6 million people visit a pharmacy in England each day1. As accessible high-street health hubs offering walk-in support, pharmacies see far more people on a daily basis than appointment-based dental practices. This creates a valuable opportunity to share key oral health messages outside the dental practice and could help counterbalance the limited availability of NHS dentists and affordability barriers.
Research2 has however shown that limited oral health training can make it difficult for pharmacists to signpost patients as effectively as they would like. This is compounded by the fact that healthcare professionals too often work in isolation, rather than take a multi-disciplinary approach to supporting public health.
How many of you have been approached by their local pharmacists to explore some kind of collaboration to improve patient outcomes? Equally, I don’t think that many dental professionals would have reached out to their local pharmacists either.
Pharmacists could realistically play a greater role in meeting oral health needs. Although the value of collaboration between dentistry and pharmacy has long been recognised, barriers between the two professions persist. Understanding these barriers is essential to achieving better integration.
When I discussed this first NIHR pharmacy-dental collaboration roundtable with Lauren Ward, Professional Relations & Education Manager at Philips, she immediately recognised the need and welcomed the initiative. She also highlighted recent research3 from the University of Otago in her native New Zealand, which similarly found limited knowledge of oral-systemic links and preventative strategies, leading to weaker practical counselling skills.”
Philips’ Lauren Ward commented: “I am impressed and so pleased that Victoria is involved in such an important initiative, as good collaborative working relationships between the two healthcare disciplines has the potential to help so many more patients. Victoria’s commitment to oral health is highly commendable, and Philips will continue to support her work as an inspiring advocate for the profession.”
To find out how to become involved in the new research, please access this form: https://form.jotform.com/262592876679076
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