Purpose and Aims

The purpose of the Orthodontic MCN is to facilitate patient-centred care, and its aims are to advise on transformational change, to improve clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, equity of access, efficiency and offer parity of outcome in service delivery.

The aim of the MCN is to offer a way of working where clinicians from all settings across the clinical care pathway can focus on patients and improving services. The MCN aims to advise on transformational change, to improve clinical effectiveness, equity of access, efficiency and offer parity of outcome in service delivery.  The MCN is a managed group governed by NHS England providing a link to all specialists and clinicians accepting referrals.

Function

The MCN links all clinicians from primary, salaried, secondary and tertiary care to work in a co-ordinated manner, unconstrained by existing professional and organisational boundaries to ensure equitable provision of high quality, clinically effective services.

The Orthodontic MCN is an NHS England managed clinical leadership advisory group which will:

• Agree a work plan and objectives with NHS England South West Dental LDN
• Interface with the LDN to contribute to local planning and prioritisation and to agree objectives and report on progress.
• Receive and consider information on clinical needs. assessments, service delivery, quality, treatment outcomes, cost-effectiveness and equity of access data, in order to advise NHS England, Health Education England (HEE) and the Local Dental Network.
• Interface with the LDN to understand wider local priorities and action plans.
• Contribute to the development and subsequent implementation of strategies that will improve service care provision.
• Contribute to the development of referral management systems.
• Support the implementation of evidence-based pathways of the best and most cost-effective patient care across all sectors of service provision (i.e. primary, secondary and tertiary care).
• Review extant systems and approaches in other localities, in order to adopt and or adapt those that are efficient and effective.
• Ensure there is a mechanism for patients’ views on their local clinical services to be expressed and heard.
• Advise on criteria to improve quality, value and treatment outcomes.
• Contribute to an appraisal system of providers in collaboration with the local Director of Health Education England and other appropriate bodies.
• Communicate with and about general dental and primary care practitioners/providers to identify where performance could be improved in delivery of what is expected of primary care to guide commissioners.
• Advise on areas where further education would be beneficial and, in particular communicate this to Health Education England.
• Report and share the activities and effect of the MCN, in order to support the LDN and commissioners meet the local needs of the population.
• The MCN is a managed structure integral to NHS England commissioning process.

Members

Meetings

MCN meetings are held on a quarterly basis via MS Teams.  The dates of meetings for 2022/23 are:

14^th September 2022

8^th December 2022

15^th March 2023

Referral Guidance and Forms

Click here to view referral guidance and forms. 

Useful Links

Primary Care Service Specification

Guide for Commissioning Dental Specialties: Orthodontics

Click here to view referral guidance and forms

Education: HEE South West maxcourse website