ChAD were successful in obtaining a Micro grant from HealthWatch to start working with the people they represent about their experiences at the dentist.
Pictures below are at the presentation event
Members of the committee have been out to Stirling Centre and Rossington Outreach to speak with people about their personal experiences . Quite a few people went to the Flying Scotsman in town however many people visited the dentist in their own local areas .
Most people were very happy with the services they received only having a few concerns and things they were unsure about . From this we made a list of questions to ask Practice managers .
Our intention is to speak with practice manager/Head Nurses over the borough before feeding back information to the people we spoke with and represent
We started our visits at The Flying Scotsman where we spoke with practice manager Patricia Mitchell who was very understanding and helpful in answering the questions we had and clearing up any concerns .
Tricia has kept in touch regularly sending us information and regarding some Easy read work we are completing around payments and helping with appointments. She informed us that they will be more than happy to use this when it is completed . Meanwhile all the staff would be happy to draw clock faces on appointment cards if it would be helpful to people .
ChAD members have also been to speak with Head Nurse Lauren Slack at The Martin Wells Dental Practice at Edlington on 2.6.2017 who was also very helpful and informative.
We continued our visits to Dental Practices and this time it was The Whitegates practice on Thorne Road where we spoke with practice manager Kate Levier.
Kate answered all our questions in detail.
Regarding people’s concerns around lack of teeth polishing Kate explained that Polishing can be quite rough on teeth and has very little benefit therefore it isn’t done very often. scaling is needed and is competed often
Kate explained that many people are now using whitening toothpaste but it can actually show the under layer of your teeth which is actually more yellow.
As with each other practice managers she totally appreciated that we were completing work on the payment forms as most people had difficulty in understanding it and kindly offered for us to re visit to take the relevant photos of dentist/patient receiving . for our form.
Again, Kate very kindly offered to display our Easy Read Cancer awareness posters as well as the SID logo.
The next place we visited was Genix Healthcare in Mexborough where we spoke with the practice manager Sam.
Sam answered all questions thoroughly and we felt that the systems they have in place around people’s health and safety was very good.
Sam said that they wouldn’t make people who have an LD a priority as they would like to think that they covered everyone’s needs at a gold star standard regardless of their health needs.
If people are feeling nervous appointments can be offered early or straight after lunch so people are not waiting around.
They are very happy to help people understand any information and are happy to take the time to explain things clearer.
They try to make the inside of the practice very welcoming and ‘non-dentist like to help with any anxieties people may have. They also encourage parents to bring children from an early age so they don’t fear going to the dentists as they get older.
Sam allowed us to take several photo’s for our proposed Easy Read payment form. She also displayed our photos as well as the SID logo.
The final Dentist practice we visited was The Doncaster Dental Practice in the town centre where we spoke with Practice manager Pat Booth. ChAD were very happy with all the answers Pat gave them.
Pat explained that the practice had in the past attempted to put a stair lift in for people who experience problems with their mobility however they were informed that the structure of the building would not allow thi
Now the visits are complete The ChAD committee have since designed and printed Easy Read appointment cards which can be used by many different organisations i.e, Dentist, Doctors, Hospital, Opticians etc. These can help people with understanding and aid independence.
Please see Press release on ‘Easy read appointment cards’ post.
Plans are to commence work with the people we represent and Pharmacies soon