CQC REVIEW
"Smiling Matters"
In June 2019, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published a report entitled 'Smiling Matters: Oral Health Care in Care Homes. This report outlined findings from a review conducted by them, on the state of oral health care, specific to care homes in England. The CQC's team of adult social care inspectors were joined by dental professionals, in 100 of their routine inspections.
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The report concluded that three years on from the publication of NICE guidance on oral health in care homes, steps were often not being taken to ensure care home residents were receiving the oral health care they needed, to live pain-free and with their dignity respected.
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The CQC would like to see care homes treat oral health as an equal priority to other personal care needs. Responsibility for ensuring the following, lies with care home managers and their staff:
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All residents have an oral health assessment when they move into the care home,
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Any oral health needs are recorded in the residents' personal care plan,
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All care home staff have the knowledge and skills needed to take care of residents' oral health, including support with their daily regime, where required
"The majority (52%) of care homes visited had no policy to promote and protect people’s oral health"
"73% of residents’ care plans we reviewed only partly covered or did not cover oral health at all."
"Nearly half (47%) of care homes were not providing any staff training to support people’s daily oral healthcare."
"17% of care homes said they did not assess people’s oral health on admission."
"Oral health is closely linked to a person’s wider health, so poor access to dentistry is only likely to exacerbate other health inequalities."
- Excerpt from CQC State of Care 2021/22 Report
KEEPING Y U SMILING
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