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Redeployment of dental teams during the covid-19 pandemic: A review of experiences and lessons learned Christopher Platais Francesca Siodlak Ishpinder Toor Louise Ormondroyd Dental Update 2024 48:2, 707-709.
Authors
ChristopherPlatais
BDS(Hons), BMedSci, MFDS RCS Ed
DCT2 in Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology, Guy's Hospital, London
The COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the globe, causing millions of cases and disrupting the lives of people worldwide. The increase in the number of critically unwell patients has put healthcare systems under immense strain, requiring them to adapt their service provision to cope with increased demand. At Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GSTFT) in London, redeployment of healthcare staff has been used to relieve pressure on the most overburdened hospital sectors, and this saw clinical dental teams involved in auxiliary medical roles throughout much of 2020. On the cusp of the New Year, COVID-19 cases continued to soar and GSTFT opted to cancel routine care and re-implement a second round of clinical redeployment. Here, we discuss our experiences and present positive feedback of early-career dentists being redeployed to medical wards during the UK's greatest health crisis of recent years.
CPD/Clinical Relevance: Clinical dental teams can positively contribute to the national COVID-19 response through the provision of urgent dental care, inpatient mouthcare services and auxiliary medical roles.
Article
Since early 2020, the world has watched with trepidation as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 90 million cases and almost 2 million deaths worldwide. The UK confirmed its first case on 31 January 2020 and, as of January 2021, the country has the fifth-largest national death toll; exceeded only by Mexico, India, Brazil and the USA.1
At Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GSTFT) in Central London, part of the initial COVID-19 response involved redeployment of clinical dental teams to a variety of secondary care roles. This provided an opportunity for dental staff to learn from a range of specialties while also contributing to essential health services. After a brief summer hiatus, cases of COVID-19 have continued to escalate with a new, more-transmissible coronavirus variant being widely implicated. This has led to the implementation of a further national lockdown, and at GSTFT, further restructuring of healthcare services and associated redeployment of dental teams. Here, we reflect on our experiences and the lessons learned from our involvement in the first COVID-19 response.
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