Alison Bullock presents at the Association of Dental Implantology annual event

Finally, after being postponed for two years as a result of the pandemic, the ADI event took place at the end of May. The event is to be congratulated for encouraging the attendance of the whole dental team.

Alison’s invited talk was a part of the ‘great debate – is skill mix safe’. Expertly chaired by Fiona Sandon, Alison was proud to share the planform with Michaela O-Neill and Sue Boynton. The three speakers conveyed common messages.

Alison drew on studies in pharmacy and aviation and concluded with key messages:

• Skill mix is indeed safe, when the team works well.
• Good skill mix requires: a collaborative practice ethos (mutual respect and trust); team members who are competent in their scope of practice (right people with the right skills in the right roles); and commitment to keeping up-to-date with changing evidence.
• Teamworking is supported by: on-going education; good leadership and effective communication (within the team and with patients).

Teamwork doesn’t just happen, it needs fostering. The Skills Optimiser Self-Evaluation Tool (SOSET) has been designed to support the whole dental team critically review how they address skill-mix in delivery of oral healthcare in their practice. SOSET sets out seven ‘dimensions’, each with four levels to help teams identify priority areas for improvement. Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) provides quality improvement (QI) facilitators to support team discussions about skill-mix. This short video sets out the SOSET process: SOSET Process