Dental Public Health Intelligence Programme (DPHIP) Survey Fieldwork 3 year old Nursery / Pre-school Children

Oral health is an integral part of overall health. A significant proportion of the population in England experience very good levels of tooth decay. Successive oral surveys have shown that child and adult oral health has been improving over the past 30 years. However, the vulnerable, disadvantaged and socially excluded groups are at greater risk of oral diseases affecting their teeth, gums, supporting bone, and soft tissues of their mouth, tongue and lips.
The proportion of children who participated in the first 3-year old oral health survey in 2013 varied at regional and upper and lower-tier local authority level and this probably reflects the provision of child care in different areas which impacts upon the ability to access children. Across the regions, representation varied from 5% in Yorkshire and the Humber and in London to 14% in the North West.
The 2012 Health and Social Care Act conferred responsibility for oral and general health improvement to Local Authorities (LA's). Local Authorities are now statutorily required to provide or secure oral health surveys. The oral health surveys are carried out by the suppliers in line with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) (formerly Public Health England) dental public health intelligence programme (DPHIP, formerly the national dental epidemiology programme).
This aim of the service is to undertake epidemiology fieldwork activity to enable accurate collation of dental data in respect of 3-year old children in pre-school / nursery for submission in line with the Dental Public Health Intelligence Programme (DPHIP) annual survey programme and in accordance with the survey protocol. This 206/27 DPHIP survey will be conducted across eight of the nine Cheshire and Merseyside local authorities as per below:-
• Cheshire West and Chester
• Halton
• Knowsley
• Liverpool
• Sefton
• St Helens
• Warrington
• Wirral
The objectives of the service are to:
• Engage with commissioners and local authority leads to consider each forthcoming survey
• Agree the sample size with the commissioners and use agreed sampling methods. A minimum sample size of 250 examined children is required per lower-tier local authority, from a minimum of 20 nursery / pre-schools.
• Obtain agreement to participate and examine the minimum number of participants as required in the national dental survey protocol
• Ensure that the method for data collection is in line with national protocols
• Use appropriate staff with enhanced DBS checks and ensure all clinical examiners are trained and calibrated in line with national standards to undertake the surveys.
• Work in collaboration with dental epidemiology co-ordinators (DEC) and dental epidemiology trainers
• Engage with local suppliers and stakeholders to access potential participants for examination
• Undertake the required fieldwork to collect the specified information according to the national protocol
• Provide and submit a complete, cleaned set of data on behalf of the eight local authority areas direct to the DEC in a timely manner, to enable the data to be analysed and dental health surveys to be populated within agreed timescales.
• Provide at its own expense all suitable information and communication technologies (ICT) systems (hardware and software) that are required to support data collection and reporting with the capacity to transmit data securely in line with policy and national standards. It will also ensure secure storage of confidential Service User data preferably using a computerised system and shall be registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
These services will be procured under The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 under The Most Suitable Provider Process

The national programme of dental surveys are co-ordinated by OHID. The surveys are conducted according to a national standard protocol and examiners are trained and calibrated to a national standard. The sampling procedure conforms to the national standard and is agreed with the DPHET survey co-ordinator before fieldwork is carried out. DPHIP epidemiology co-ordinators are employed by OHID . They work on a regional basis and are responsible for quality assurance of the fieldwork carried out in their area. This quality assurance and standardisation allows local, regional and national comparisons of the data.
The OHID DPHIP incorporates all aspects of the former NHS Dental Epidemiology Programme. This programme supports the collection, analysis and dissemination of reliable and robust information on the oral health needs of local populations.
Every LA in England is responsible for monitoring the health needs of their population. Through a Statutory Instrument, local authorities are specifically required to provide, or make arrangements to secure the provision of, oral health surveys (as part of their dental public health functions) to facilitate the:
• Assessment and monitoring of oral health needs,
• Pla