Aim: This paper describes a newly created primary care oral surgery specialist service operating in a managed clinical network caring for the United Kingdom military population. It aims to review its outcomes and to consider the structure of the service in relation to the recommendations of the 2010 NHS sponsored 'Review of Oral Surgery Services and Training' by Medical Education England which made recommendations for the delivery of UK oral surgery services. Materials and methods: A retrospective audit of patient records and referral data. Results: This paper describes a primary care focused, specialist delivered oral surgery referral service that has demonstrated how the recommendations of this review can be successfully implemented to the benefit of patients and those that commission and resource care whilst simultaneously delivering clinical training to General Dental Practitioners in oral surgery. Furthermore it illustrates the successful implementation and integration of a managed clinical network for the delivery of oral surgery referral services from primary care general practice through primary care specialist practice to secondary care hospital services. Conclusions: The benefits of the service include an efficient, effective and fiscally economical patient centred service with referral to treatment timings and complication rates that compare favourably to current alternatives and with the structures and processes that facilitate the achievement of quality outcomes.
Clinical relevanceScientific rationale for study: To assess the delivery of core oral surgery services in a primary care setting.Principal findings: Of a sample of 795 cases, 92% were definitively managed in the primary care clinic. Of those referrals transferred for management in a hospital unit, 85% were due to a requirement for general anaesthesia with only seven cases (1% of total referrals) judged to be for care that fell out with the oral surgery core competencies.Practical implications: Specialists in oral surgery can deliver a substantial portion of their services in the primary care setting with benefits to patients and to commissioners of care while maintaining a postgraduate teaching commitment.Primary care oral surgery referral service Davies et al.
66Oral Surgery 6 (2013) 61-66.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.