Councillors see partnership working improve oral health support for people experiencing homelessness

Westminster councillors visited The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields to see how Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH) teams and The Connection are working together to improve access to oral health support for people experiencing homelessness.

Cllr Lorainne Dean and Cllr Elizabeth Amos were joined by Dr Muhammad Usman Khan, Deputy Director of Public Health for Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and Debbie Arrigon, Senior Public Health Strategist. Together, they met colleagues from The Connection, CLCH’s Oral Health Promotion team and Homeless Dental Service to learn more about the different ways people are supported with their oral health, from prevention and advice in a trusted community setting through to accessing dental care when it is needed.  

CLCH’s Oral Health Promotion team works closely with The Connection, which supports people experiencing homelessness in central London. Twice a month, members of the team attend drop-in sessions at The Connection, bringing oral health information, support and resources such as toothpaste and toothbrushes directly to people using the service.

The team provides practical advice on maintaining good oral health, promotes prevention and helps identify needs early in a familiar setting. Where further care is needed, people can be signposted to appropriate services, including CLCH’s Homeless Dental Service at The Soho NHS Walk-in Centre.

Binodbikash Simkhada, Oral Health Promotion Service Manager, at CLCH, said: “Our visits to The Connection allow us to take oral health promotion directly to people who can often face barriers to accessing healthcare. We can provide practical advice, talk about prevention and, importantly, help people understand where they can go for further support if they need it. By being present in a setting people already know and use, we have an opportunity to engage people earlier and make oral health support more accessible.

“This approach very much reflects the ambitions of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, shifting more care from hospitals into communities and placing a much greater focus on prevention. For us, that means going to where people are, working with organisations they already trust and helping people access support before their oral health problems become more serious.”

The councillors also met a representative from CLCH’s Homeless Dental Service, which provides dental care for people experiencing homelessness through clinics at Soho. While the Homeless Dental Service is separate from the Oral Health Promotion team’s work with The Connection, the services complement each other. People engaging with the Oral Health Promotion team at The Connection who require further dental support can be signposted to the Soho Walk in Centre.

Bringing both teams together for the visit demonstrated how oral health promotion can connect people with dental assessment and treatment when needed.

Maynaha Indrakumar, Clinical Director Community and Specialist Dental Services at CLCH said: “People experiencing homelessness can face several challenges when trying to access dental care, and we want to make that journey as straightforward as possible.

“Having colleagues out in the community who can talk to people about their oral health and signpost them towards our service is really valuable. At Soho, our focus is then on providing accessible dental care that responds to the needs of people experiencing homelessness.

“By linking community outreach with access to dedicated dental care, we can help create a more joined-up route into services for people who might otherwise struggle to access the support they need.”

During the visit, Cllr Dean and Cllr Amos heard about the barriers people experiencing homelessness can face when accessing oral health support and how community outreach can help address them.

Cllr Lorraine Dean, Cabinet Member for Adults and Heath said: "It was very rewarding to see first-hand how Public Health, CLCH and The Connection are working together to bring oral health support directly into the community. By meeting people where they are and helping them overcome barriers to accessing care, this partnership is ensuring people experiencing homelessness can access the right help and be supported to navigate onward to dental services when needed."

The visit highlighted how community outreach, prevention and access to dedicated dental services can help improve oral health outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.