Dental nurse triage in an emergency dental service: staff views

The out-of-hours emergency dental service at King’s College Hospital supported by Southwark PCT offers emergency dental treatment to approximately 12,000 patients annually, operating at evenings, weekends and bank holidays. High demand for this walk-in service located in an area of social deprivation and high population density necessitated prioritisation of patients. Dental nurses were trained to undertake face-to-face triage of patients from 6-9pm each weekend evening using a four-point scale. Objectives: obtaining staff views on the nurse-led triage project to inform future provision of care. Methods: in-depth face-to-face interviews of eleven staff members were conducted by a single interviewer. Informants comprised dentists, dental nurses, triage nurses, receptionists and management. Analysis of the qualitative data was undertaken using Framework. Results: nurse-led triage was perceived as beneficial in identifying and prioritizing patients with highest need (dental or medical) as well as minimizing the expectations of patients attending with low need. It was perceived as utilising the clinical training of dental nurses and enhancing their role within the dental team, thus contributing to skill-mix within dentistry and relieving receptionists and security staff of this clinically-related burden. There were mixed views on training needs relating to induction and on-going training. The general perception was that triage could be rolled out on a permanent basis throughout the whole week. Conclusion: Nurse-led face-to-face triage is perceived by staff as having an over-all benefit to the smooth running of out-of-hours emergency dental services and enhancing skill-mix within the dental team.