Dental Health Support Worker, Public Dental Service

An exciting opportunity has arisen within our Public Dental Service (PDS) for Dental Health Support Workers to join our dynamic team.  We are looking for highly organised, friendly members of staff, to assist in the delivery of the Childsmile programme.  This is a national programme funded by the Scottish Executive to promote and improve the oral health of children in Scotland.

Working as part of the multi-disciplinary team, individuals will work with families to support them to maximise their health and wellbeing by linking, referring and signposting them to wider community services.  The post holders will provide the main link between families, the dental team, health visiting teams and education staff within establishments who participate in the programme, as well as engaging with the most vulnerable groups and communities.  They will work with colleagues and the wider community, contributing to the identification and development of a network of services that could not necessarily be provided by healthcare setting alone e.g., weaning groups, breastfeeding support services and Childminding groups

A key part of the role is to be able to work with families to take a social history which identifies needs.  The post holders will help to identify and work with new local community based voluntary and public sector projects and support the integration of oral health into existing services both within and out with healthcare.  Additionally, they will work with local partners to facilitate the coproduction, planning and delivery of services and support relevant to local circumstances.

It is essential that candidates can evidence the following:-

• Educated to standard grade level or equivalent
• Basic literacy and numeracy skills
• Recent experience of working within childcare sector
• Highly developed communication,  interpersonal and effective listening skills.
• Negotiation and problem-solving skills
• Group teaching skills
• Ability and willingness to travel throughout the area of service delivery is essential for this post.
• Moderate IT skills

If successful, a full induction will be tailored to meet your needs within this role.

For informal enquiries, please contact: Gail Stewart, Childsmile Co-ordinator/Team Lead on gail.stewart@nhs.scot or ext. 3934 or Darline Reekie  on .

The duties of this post require the successful candidate to be a member of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme.  More information on this scheme can be found at www.disclosurescotland.co.uk

In line with the current UK Immigration Rules, this post does not meet the eligibility criteria for a Certificate of Sponsorship to support a Skilled Worker Visa or a Health & Care Worker Visa. Overseas nationals should review alternative immigration options before applying for this role. Further information: www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration.

Please note that the majority of correspondence is sent by e-mail, therefore please check your e-mail regularly (including junk folders) and your Jobtrain account for updates.

NHS Forth Valley is positive about disabled people and is committed to offering an interview to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job.  Please contact the Recruitment Office on if there are any reasonable adjustments we can make to assist you with your application and/or interview.

NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.