BLENDED LEARNING DENTAL HYGIENIST DEGREE PROGRAMME

NHSE’s overall aim is to promote high quality health and care for all, and support NHS organisations to work in partnership to deliver better outcomes for patients and communities, at the best possible value for taxpayers and to continuously improve the NHS. By doing this NHSE will improve the health of the population, improve the quality of care, tackle inequalities and deliver care more efficiently.<br/><br/>Working collaboratively with its partners NHSE strives to use different and innovative ways of educating the health workforce including the use of technology with opportunities to widen access and participation and attract a diverse group of our population with the aptitude, behaviours and values that are required for health careers. <br/><br/>There are significant staff shortages in many parts of our NHS workforce, with the need in dentistry expertise, one of the biggest challenges that currently needs to be addressed.<br/><br/>NHSE has a role in contributing to the growth of the dental workforce in meeting the Long-term Workforce Plan’s pledge of a 15% increase in dental hygienists and therapists as opposed to the current 5%. <br/><br/>NHSE will promote alternative routes into the dental profession by: <br/>

• developing a clear model that sets out the different entry routes into dental hygienist training highlighting the different approaches and benefits, to inform employer and entrant decisions.<br/>
• Support the development and delivery of a blended learning dental hygienist degree programme that maximises the benefits of innovative technologies and digital opportunities to provide a fully interactive and innovative programme.<br/> <br/>For this tender specification, blended learning is defined as ‘a method of teaching that integrates technology and digital media with traditional instructor-led classroom activities giving students more flexibility to customise their learning experiences” (Panopto 2019).