NSW Health WSLHD Safety & Quality Account 2020-21

Care provision during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Oral Health Services Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining safe access to care has been a priority of all services. This presented a challenge for oral health services in WSLHD as most procedures performed in Oral Health are aerosol- generating, posing an increased the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Screening processes were in place, but transmission of the virus by asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic patients remained a risk. To address this, Oral Health service implemented a ‘hot zone’- a designated space that was initially used for patients requiring emergency dental procedures and whose COVID-19 status was unknown. More recently, the introduction of Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) has enabled robust screening of patients prior to their appointment in Oral Health, whilst maintaining privacy and safety. The Oral Health hot zone has meant that patients can continue to access services, safely. Access to face to face Health Care Interpreter Service (HCIS) was limited throughout 2021/22 due to COVID-19 restrictions on staff movements. This led to reduced services available for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) patients in Oral Health. The Virtual Connect Oral Health Interpreting Project was initiated to provide virtual interpreting for clients of WSLHD Oral Health clinics. The initiative aimed to increase virtual interpreter use to more than 90% of clinical encounters and reduce interpreter booking costs within 12 months. Throughout the pandemic, the program allowed CALD patients to access HCIS while attending oral health appointments, ensuring safe and equitable access to oral health care. Beyond COVID-19, the project has continued to ensure high quality access to HCIS. Bookings made virtually accounted for 99% of all oral health HCIS bookings in the last quarter of 2021. Taking into account the disruption to service during the pandemic, the estimated cost savings for the financial year ending 2022 is approximately $22,000. The project has improved the availability of interpreter scheduling and a reduction in rescheduling of appointments due to unavailability of interpreter services. Following the initial cost for technology resources and time investment for training, ongoing costs for maintenance are negligible, resulting in a highly sustainable program. Positive feedback has been received from patients as part of the program evaluation, with all patients reporting that the use of the devices was “significantly better” than the previous audio handheld telephone connection, and that availability of video to converse with interpreters resulted in a better clinical experience and improved understanding. Virtual Connect Oral Health Interpreting Project, Oral Health Services

Oral Health

Ashika Lathif (Westmead Paediatric Dental Officer)

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