Parents and guardians are responsible for their children’s oral health which includes making sure they visit the dentist. As children of course cannot come to the dentist by themselves, it is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to bring them to their appointments.
However, dentists, like other professionals, have a role to play. According to the government’s guide: ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children from July 2018’. ‘Everyone who works with children has a responsibility for keeping them safe’. Therefore if a child is not brought to their dental appointment it is the practice’s responsibility to document it as this might be a sign of neglect. If a child (or a vulnerable adult for that matter) has consistently not been brought to their dental appointment this should be raised with the appropriate authorities.
The topic of disengagement and specifically “Was not Brought” has been discussed for a while with some NHS foundations producing guidelines around the topic. BDA has created a really handy guide on how to implement “Was Not Brought” into your practice.
What is ‘Was Not Brought’ function?
To help practices track this process and to comply with new SAFE Guidelines, Software of Excellence have included the highly requested option “Was Not Brought” in EXACT dental software. This will help you differentiate between Fail to Attend and Was Not Brought. This excellent video from Safeguarding Nottingham highlights the importance of Was Not Brought rather than Failed to Attend.
How to use Was Not Brought in EXACT
In the Cancels tab, it changes the red FTA X to a Blue FTA X and the description is now changed to ‘Was Not Brought’.
This option is only available in the latest version of EXACT V13.12 available to download now.
