Senior Dental Officer in Bacup

Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism, community, and physical health services for the populations we serve. As an integrated Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT) delivers a comprehensive range of services, including:

• Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults, including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, and forensic services with low and medium secure care.
• Specialist mental health inpatient care for individuals with learning disabilities, alongside specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
• Extensive community physical health and well-being services for children and adults, covering prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and long-term condition management.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a fixed term Senior Dental Officer for maternity cover in Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust Dental Services (Jan 2027-Dec 2027). Salary is pro rata Band B (£84,781 to £99,163 for 2026/27 commensurate with previous NHS employment or experience).

The post is suitable for an experienced practitioner to work Mondays/Wednesdays/Thursdays based at Bacup Health Centre 2 days per week and Oak House Accrington 1 day per week. You may be expected to work at other sites within LSCFT Dental Services.

The post includes the provision of care within the specialties of special care and paediatric dentistry including retained safety net patients (high street dentistry) and unscheduled care for patients referred to the service by the Lancashire Call Handling Service. Experience in conscious sedation is preferred but will be provided if required. This role is supported by a specialist in special care dentistry, local consultants in special care and paediatric dentistry, dental therapists and dental nurses, all of whom are qualified and many have training in extended duties - radiography, sedation, special care, fluoride application. Regular mentoring and clinical supervision time is available.

Main duties of the job:

• The post-holder will provide a full range of primary care dentistry to retained safety net (routine care) patients accessing Dental Services at Bacup Health Centre.
• The post-holder will provide primary care special care dental services, paediatric dental services, conscious sedation, and domiciliary care to those patients referred to LSCFT Dental Services in accordance with Service need and the NHSE service specifications.
• You may be expected to work at any of the sites across the LSCFT Dental Services footprint.
• The post holder will be expected to undertake urgent dental care for the Service’s own patients and those patients accessing the Lancashire Dental Helpline.
• The post holder will be expected to support the Service Leadership Team by undertaking management and leadership duties as agreed in the job plan.
• The post holder will be expected to provide care following local and national standards and guidance including NHS regulations, Trust and Service policies and procedures, NICE Guidance and Delivering Better Oral Health.

Working for our organisation:

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation. Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you’d like to discuss your application, please ask. We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT supports flexible working; we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time. The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.

Qualifications:

• Post Graduate Dental Qualification e.g. DSCD or Diploma in Conscious Sedation.
• Dental indemnity insurance.
• Included on Performers list without restrictions.
• Full GDC registration without restriction.

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.
• Experience of providing dentistry within a secondary 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.

Work Related Knowledge and Skills:

• Good Team Leader and worker.
• Experience of treating paediatric and special needs patients.
• Clinical leadership experience in dentistry.
• Knowledge of NHS PDS Regulations.

For all posts which require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check please be aware of the Disclosure and Barring Service Code of Practice, a copy of which is available by logging on to the DBS website. If the post is subject to DBS disclosure, a charge will be made to the successful candidate(s).

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications.