In recent years, significant evidence suggests that adults living in care homes are facing substantial issues in terms of maintaining their oral health. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) highlighted such challenges in 2016, making recommendations centred on oral and mouth care plans, staff training, and service availability. This was further underscored by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), after attending 100 care homes across England to assess the oral health experiences of managers, residents, and relatives. Its subsequent report, Smiling Matters 2019, suggested that improvements needed to be made in the implementation of the NICE NG48 guidance and support provided to residents and relatives. In 2018, Healthwatch Derbyshire worked alongside the CQC to visit care homes across the county, engaging with 120 staff and 181 residents and service users. Following this engagement, Healthwatch also identified gaps in staff training and education, delays in gaining access to dental treatment, and lack of awareness of the importance of good oral health practices. In response to this growing issue, Derbyshire’s Oral Health Promotion Team developed an oral health accreditation package for care homes to maintain the oral health of their residents. The Your Smile Matters (YSM) Accreditation, a holistic approach to oral health support, was piloted in 2023 across 16 Derbyshire County Council-led and one privately-run care home, with an overall bed reach of 438 residents. The YSM programme provides care homes with standards that must be achieved within a year in order to gain accreditation. This entails ensuring that each resident has an oral health assessment; using reliable sources of oral health guidance to maintain and improve residents’ oral health; evidencing the promotion of oral health; training staff in improving and maintaining residents’ oral health and informing them on how to access the right dental service. Each care home was provided with a YSM folder containing the Oral Health in Care Homes GOV.UK toolkit, as well as a copy of the YSM programme guidance to work alongside. Participants were also given face-to-face and online training, reaching 289 staff and taking six months to deliver. Training was modelled around the latest Gov.UK Oral Health in Care Homes Toolkit, with templates for oral health policy, assessments, NICE guidance, and specific literature regarding oral health and complex conditions such as dementia. Your Smile Matters set clear, robust standards to support care homes in delivering high-quality oral health care. Through the programme, 14 care homes successfully gained the YSM accreditation status, and all care homes now have an oral policy that is based on the latest Gov.UK Oral Health in Care Homes Toolkit. All care homes within the programme now have access to Derbyshire’s oral health promotion service’s network, which allows them to build on and maintain accreditation status. Since the launch of the YSM Accreditation programme, the Derbyshire’s Oral Health Promotion Team has successfully inducted 25 more care homes into a second cohort of the year-long accreditation programme. The team is also supporting a further 11 settings (from the initial cohort) in maintaining their YSM accreditation status. This ongoing uptake highlights a growing commitment across care home settings to improving the oral health outcomes of their residents, in accordance with Derbyshire County Council’s public health investment into improving oral health for the county’s care home population. As the Your Smile Matters programme continues to strengthen oral health standards across Derbyshire, care homes are seeing meaningful improvements in both practice and resident outcomes. Morton Grange Care Home is one such example. Registered Manager Shanci Matthew shared this reflection on the programme’s impact: “When we joined the project, I didn’t expect big changes as we already felt we were doing everything possible. But after the first staff attended training, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. I soon realised there were areas we could improve. We made changes to our brushing practices, ordered a denture label kit, and ensured all residents’ dentures are properly labelled. Taking part in this accreditation has improved the quality of care for residents and even influenced our own personal habits. I would recommend this to other care homes without any doubt. Our trainer, Nicola, was incredibly supportive and motivating throughout. Thank you.” We at SME News are delighted to announce that Derbyshire’s Oral Health Promotion Service has received further regional recognition for its work to improve oral health across the county. Delivered through the Section 75 Partnership Agreement between Derbyshire County Council and Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, the service has received the Excellence Award in Community Dedication 2026, alongside recognition as the East Midlands’ Best Care Home Oral-Health Initiative 2026. Such accolades are a testament to the team’s hard work, and its continued commitment to reducing oral health inequalities and supporting healthier communities. Contact: Julie Upton - [email protected] Company: Derbyshire’s Oral Health Promotion Team Web Address: www.dchs.nhs.uk/our-services-and-locations/a-z-list-ofservices/oral-health-promotion Derbyshire County Council Public Health has commissioned an Oral Health Promotion Service since 2012, when responsibility for health improvement moved to local authorities. From April 2023 the Oral Health Promotion Service has been commissioned as part of a Section 75 Partnership Agreement between Derbyshire County Council and the provider (Derbyshire Community Health Service’s NHS Foundation Trust). This Agreement enables Public Health in Derbyshire to work in close partnership with the provider to develop opportunities to improve and maintain oral health outcomes while reducing inequalities across the county. Support from NHS England’s Oral Health Improvement Funding has enabled Public Health and partners to broaden this work and address a wider range of needs in targeted groups. With people retaining natural teeth for longer, older adults now require more complex, long term oral health care. Derbyshire’s Oral Health Promotion Team is proudly leading the way through the Your Smile Matters initiative, improving oral health for care home residents. This outstanding work has now been celebrated on a national stage, as the team receives recognition in the SME Dental and Oral Health Awards 2025. Best Care Home Oral-Health Initiative 2026 – East Midlands & Excellence Award in Community Dedication 2026 Derbyshire’s Oral Health Promotion Team
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