Specialist Paediatric Dentist Officer in Morecambe

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is situated on the west coast of Lancashire, with services covering the local authority areas of Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. The Trust is part of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS) supporting a population of around 1.6 million people. We have three main hospitals providing acute services to around 330,000 local residents. The organisation also provides specialist tertiary care for cardiac and haematology services, delivers community health services to over 445,000 residents including those in North Lancashire and hosts the National Artificial Eye Service across England. Plus, we provide urgent and emergency care services to an estimated 18 million people who visit the seaside resort each year. We employ over 7000 people from 68 different countries. We welcome and encourage applications from anyone with protected characteristics, as well as supporting reservists and Veterans who are looking for a rewarding and challenging career within the NHS. Blackpool Teaching Hospitals encourages flexible working in all our roles to support staff in maintaining a healthy home-life balance. Working patterns such as part-time working, self-rostering, compressed hours, annualised hours, term time, reverse term time and flexitime working can be explored.

The post holder will be expected to lead the Specialist Paediatric Dentistry service for Blackpool Teaching Hospitals. They will provide a full range of paediatric dental services to those patients referred to the Specialist Dental Service requiring the skills of a dentist working to Specialist level. The post is based at Morecambe Dental Access Centre, but care is delivered across all Blackpool Teaching Hospitals dental sites. Flexibility is required, and it is expected that the clinician will work at any clinic location in line with service needs.

Main duties of the job:

• Deliver specialist-level dental care to children and young people referred to the service.
• Provide a full range of paediatric dental treatments under local anaesthesia, sedation and day case general anaesthesia, including for patients with complex physical, sensory, intellectual, emotional, medical or social needs.
• Lead on dental trauma within the service, supporting service development, and ensuring high standards of patient care across all dental sites in line with service needs.
• Work collaboratively with clinical, managerial and external colleagues, including hospital teams and general dental practitioners, to improve access and continuity of care.
• Provide supervision, teaching and mentorship to the wider dental team.
• Contribute to audit, governance, quality improvement and pathway development.
• Maintain up-to-date specialist knowledge through continuous professional development, peer review and appraisal.

Working for Blackpool Teaching Hospitals means supporting a patient-centred organisation committed to safe, high-quality care. Staff are expected to uphold Trust values, work collaboratively, maintain professional standards, and follow key requirements including confidentiality, safeguarding, equality, health and safety, mandatory training, and flexible working. All employees contribute to the Trust’s wider goals and continuous improvement.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

The post holder will provide high-quality specialist dental care for patients with complex needs, including those requiring special care dentistry, conscious sedation, domiciliary care, and treatment under general anaesthesia where appropriate. They will be responsible for the assessment, planning, delivery, and evaluation of safe, effective, and patient-centred care across a range of clinical environments. The role includes providing clinical leadership within the dental service, supporting the delivery of care across multiple sites, and contributing to service development in line with NHS standards, professional guidance, and organisational policies. The post holder will maintain accurate clinical records, manage risk appropriately, and work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams, patients, carers, and partner agencies. They will also contribute to audit, quality improvement, teaching, and continuing professional development to support the ongoing delivery of responsive, high-quality community dental services.

Person specification:

• Education & Qualification: Dental indemnity insurance, included on performers list without restriction, on the specialist register of the general dental council.
• Knowledge: Good team leader, clear and effective communicator, experience of leading and providing dental treatments under sedation and general anaesthesia, clinical leadership experience in dentistry, knowledge of NHS PDS regulations.
• Experience: Broad based professional background, evidence of continual professional development both general and role specific, experience of providing special care dentistry and conscious sedation within a primary care setting, evidence of providing domiciliary care in a variety of outreach settings, evidence of providing both urgent and routine care on a regular basis, evidence of clinical unknown clinical leadership and management skills.

Any invitation to interview will be sent to the email account stated on your application form. If the role you have applied for requires a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check we will administer this as part of your pre-employment checks. Please note, you will be required to repay the cost on appointment. This will be collected via a salary deduction. You can choose whether to pay this over 1-3 months from your salary or as a one-off payment on commencement in post. The level of check required depends on the role that you have been offered. Currently the charges are - Basic DBS check £25.50, Standard DBS check £25.50 and Enhanced DBS check £53.50. You are encouraged where possible, to register for the DBS update service. This is an annual registration fee of £16. By registering for the update service you will not have the additional cost of repeated disclosures. Should you withdraw your application, you may be required to reimburse the cost of the DBS check. DBS checks remain free of charge for volunteer positions. By submitting an application for this vacancy you are confirming your agreement to the above in the event you are successfully appointed. The DBS Code of Practice can be accessed here. Please ensure that you read the Person Specification attached below as your application will be judged against this. Please note that every effort will be made to keep the vacancy live until published closing date, though there may be instances where such interest is generated, that for administrative reasons the post may close earlier. Please note that in line with national NHS guidelines this Trust operates a strict non-smoking policy. Members of staff are not permitted to smoke on Trust premises or grounds at any time nor take breaks during working hours for the purposes of smoking. The Trust does not offer interview expenses to shortlisted candidates unless indicated in the advert.