In a recent article published in the Guardian, the head of the British Dental Association referred to people experiencing homelessness as “no hopers” in the context of current dental commissioning. We – a coalition of members of the dental profession, dental charities and homelessness outreach organisations – strongly reject the message that this article is sending to vulnerable individuals and the wider public.
The chaotic and dangerous nature of homelessness can make it difficult for individuals to be at a certain place at a certain time. This is not a failing to be condemned, but a challenge to be met: it is our professional responsibility to make services more easily accessible to the growing number of vulnerable people in our society.
Commissioning models need to be sufficiently flexible to embrace innovative approaches to providing high quality care to those most at need. Positive examples include Community Dental Services who provide dental care for homeless people at multiple locations across the country. Based in Plymouth, Peninsula Dental School offers free dental care at four locations, and supports dental students to provide outreach advice at local homeless shelters. Den-Tech provides same-day denture services for people experiencing homelessness. In Manchester, Revive Dental Care offers drop-in dental clinics for vulnerable people. Dentaid holds free monthly clinics in Southampton and their ‘mobile dental unit’ visits night shelters and soup kitchens around the country.
In November, these and many others will meet in Birmingham for the ‘Homeless and Inclusion Oral Health’ conference, organised by homeless health charity Pathway. The commitment of these groups is beyond doubt, but their tireless efforts should not give space to government to ignore its responsibility to commission adequate healthcare services.
Instead, we should marry lessons learned in these contexts to resources available within the NHS, and push for greater inclusion at all levels: policy, commissioning, education, training, service design, and inter-professional collaboration.
Until then, we will continue to share experience and resources, establish new partnerships, and innovate in delivering services to members of our society whose requirements are not easily met by existing structures. We believe strongly that there is hope.
If you would be willing to consider supporting this letter, please email your affirmative response or the response of your organisation asap as will be submitting this letter to the Guardian by Tuesday 1pm. Email: inclusivedentistrygroup@gmail.com
We will keep adding names and groups here even after that deadline.
PLEASE HELP US GET NAMES & SUPPORT, your cllr, your MP, your dentist, your union, your group, YOU!
Thank you
Signatories:
| Janine Doughty | University College London / Pathway Homeless Healthcare Charity / Crisis at Christmas Dental Service Deputy Service Organiser |
| Jon Glackin | Streets Kitchen |
| Matt Downie | Director of Policy and Social Affairs, Crisis |
| Prof Andrew Hayward | University College London / Pathway Homeless Healthcare Charity |
| Professor Ruth Freeman | University of Dundee |
| Vanessa Muirhead | Senior Clinical Lecturer, Queen Mary University London |
| Martin Burrows | Groundswell |
| Al Story | UCLH Find and Treat Service Lead |
| Natalie Bradley | Community Dental Officer, Clinical Lead for Homeless Provision |
| Ben Atkins | Revive Dental Care |
| Janine Brooks | Director of the dental coaching academy |
| Stan Burridge | Pathway lead for experts by experience |
| Andreas Johnson | Chair of Den-Tech Denture charity |
| Jessica Turtle | Chair of Trustees, Simon Community |
| Nicholas Ransford | Clinical Director of Birmingham Community Dental Service |
| Sara Harford | Clinical Fellow |
| Maryam Ahmadyar | Community Dental Officer |
| Mili Doshi | Consultant in Special Care Dentistry |
| Laura Daly | DCT2 in dental public health |
| Frances O’Leary | DCT3 Paediatric dentistry |
| Jill Harding | Dentaid |
| Esther Stephenson | Dental Core Trainee in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery |
| Nadia Khalique | Dental Hygienist / therapist |
| Pippasha Khan | Dental student, Kings College London |
| Deborah Manger | Deputy Medical Director & Specialist in Special Care Dentistry for NHFT |
| Jackie Bird | Director of Joanna Project |
| Dorothea Hackman | Euston Foodbank |
| David Croser | General Dental Practitioner |
| Zana Khan | GP in homeless and inclusion health |
| Bhavik Patel | Integrated Clinical Fellow, Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust |
| Cllr Diarmiad Ward | Islington Executive Member for Housing & Development |
| Daniel Stone | Labour Councillor for Stroud Green, Haringey |
| Nikki Kenyon | Manchester: Life On The Streets |
| Professor Christophe Bedos | McGill University, Montreal |
| Matthew Turtle | Museum of Homelessness |
| Serena Luchenski | NIHR/HEE Clinical Research Fellow and Honorary Public Health Consultant |
| Louise McTernan | Outreach worker Manchester |
| Cat Whitehouse | Pathway homeless healthcare charity |
| Fiona Ellwood | Patron of Society for British Dental Nurses |
| Martha Paisi | Peninsula Dental School |
| Rob Whitton | Peninsula Dental School |
| Mehdi Yazdi | Principal dentist Crown Bank Dental practice |
| Professor Blanaid Daly | Professor in Special Care Dentistry, Trinity College Dublin |
| David Conway | Professor of Dental Public Health, University of Glasgow |
| Jo Dick | Registrar in Special Care Dentistry |
| Renato Venturelli Garay | Research Assistant UCL |
| Garima Arora | Research Assistant, University of Dundee |
| Laura Gartshore | Senior lecturer and honorary consultant in paediatric dentistry |
| Art Hindocha | Senior registrar in orthodontics |
| Andrea Rodriguez | Senior Research Fellow – Homelessness (Advocacy and Policy) Smile4life Programme| |
| Melissa Scott | Service lead, homeless health service, Bournemouth. |
| Rachel Cullen | Simon Community |
| James Bartlett | Solidarity London |
| Caoimhin MacGiolla Phadraig | Special Care Dentist, Dublin Dental University Hospital |
| Nahush Shah | Specialist in Orthodontics / Crisis at Christmas Dental Service Lead |
| Norma Smart | Specialist in Special Care Dentistry |
| Neil Martin | Specialist in Special Care Dentistry/DCT East Anglia Training Programme Advisor |
| Spires | Spires |
| Brooke Zaidman | SpR in Special Care Denistry |
| Paul Jackman | Still Human Outreach |
| Councillor Ruth Rosenau | Stoke |
| Holly Bretel | StR in Special Care Dentistry |
| Samina Nayani | StR Special Care Dentistry, Kings College Hospital |
| Jade Statt | Street Vet co-founder |
| Sam Joseph | Street Vet co-founder |
| Alexander Holden | University of Sydney |
| Gabriel Galia | Wellcome Clinical Research Career Development Fellow |
| Barbara Moeller | |
| Jenny Lawson and others | Nag’s Head Solidarity Centre Women’s Group |
| Rochelle Wallace-Whitfield | |
| Theo Rogers | |
| Trish Young | |
| Jack Monroe | Author |
| Derek Richards | President British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry |