Special dental care services could be relocated after Littlehampton clinic is deemed unfit for purposes
A special dental care service, which is currently based at Littlehampton Health Centre, may end up relocated after a consultation paper concluded that the current premises are not fit for purpose.
The clinic, which currently provides care for 92 patients, may be moved to Chichester or Worthing as a result of a consultation, which involved carers and patients, staff based at the centre, members of Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust and stakeholders. The consultation was designed to assess the viability of continuing to provide the service at the current location and to identify potential alternatives.
The consultation paper suggests that the current location is ‘not fit for purpose’ because of the layout of the facility and a lack of space. These issues mean that the existing clinic doesn’t meet health and safety requirements.
At the moment, the clinic offers dental services one day per week, and the trust claims that this arrangement doesn’t provide patients with flexibility or choice. There have also been problems related to offering therapy due to long-term sickness on the staff team.
One of the alternatives proposed by the committee is combining clinics with those already established in Worthing and Chichester. Worthing Central Clinic and Jubilee Dental Centre in Chichester both offer services 5 days a week. By relocating, patients would have more choice in terms of appointments times and dates, and they would also have access to a wider range of health professionals.
The panel is planning to relocate services early next year.
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