That ‘light bulb moment’

Helen Cowles is a dental nurse in children and young people’s and adult specialist services with the Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust (NCHC). She hit the headlines last year when she was nominated as a ‘holiday healthcare hero’ in a campaign by her local newspaper, the Eastern Daily Press, aimed at acknowledging the hard work of health care professionals. She proactively developed and established an oral health education clinic within the dental service, which provides oral health education and preventative treatment to patients and their careers. The clinic has supported the service in reducing its first assessment waiting lists by releasing dentist and therapist capacity. This means patients are now able to access the service faster and, therefore, reduce further deterioration from point of referral to treatment. For this reason, the service will be rolled out across Norfolk.