Case Study:

Project snapshot

Project type: Independent clinical education and patient-safety communication project

Audience: Whole dental practice teams, including reception and administrative staff, dental nurses, dental hygienists, dental therapists, dentists and practice managers

The communication problem: A patient may mention a persistent mouth ulcer to any member of the dental team, but knowledge of the clinical guidance alone does not guarantee safe action. Unclear role boundaries, inconsistent escalation and fragmented follow-up can allow an important concern to be delayed or lost.

Strategic response: A three-part, whole-team learning package designed to move participants from understanding the risk, to recognising their role, to examining and improving the process within their own practice.

The learning package included:

• a case-based whole-team learning exercise;

• a one-page role-specific quick guide;

• a practice reflection and implementation tool.

Additional learning components: Knowledge check, pathway mapping, participant reflection, evaluation materials and facilitator guidance

Expertise: Clinical education · CME design · Patient-safety communication · Workflow and implementation thinking

The strategic question

The project explored:

How can oral cancer guidance be translated into a practical whole-team learning system that supports recognition, action and improvement without asking non-clinical staff to diagnose?

A single educational module could explain why persistent oral ulceration matters, but information alone may not change what happens in a busy practice.

The project therefore needed to support three stages:

Understand

Help the whole team understand why a patient-reported mouth ulcer lasting more than three weeks requires prompt clinical attention.

Act

Give each team member a concise, role-specific prompt showing what to notice, record, communicate and escalate.

Improve

Help the practice examine its own pathway, identify where delay could occur and agree a realistic improvement action.

This structure allowed the learning to extend beyond knowledge acquisition into practical application and local process improvement.

What the project produced

The final project was designed as a connected three-part learning package rather than a standalone piece of educational content.

Each resource addressed a different stage in moving guidance into practice.

1. A case-based whole-team learning exercise

The core 30–40 minute activity follows one fictional patient, Sarah, through several possible points of contact with a dental practice.

Her persistent mouth ulcer may first be mentioned:

• during a telephone call to reception;

• while attending for an unrelated scan;

• during a hygiene or therapy appointment;

• during a dentist’s clinical assessment.

The activity uses these scenarios to help participants explore:

• how an important symptom could be unintentionally delayed;

• what action is appropriate within each role;

• where responsibility begins and ends;

• how the concern should be communicated and recorded;

• how urgent assessment or referral can be explained sensitively;

• who is responsible for closing the follow-up loop.

It also includes:

• defined aims and learning outcomes;

• role-based discussion points;

• patient-communication examples;

• clinical documentation guidance;

• a whole-team pathway;

• practice-process mapping;

• a knowledge check;

• participant reflection;

• evaluation questions;

• facilitator notes.

2. A one-page role-specific team guide

The second resource condenses the learning into a practical quick-reference tool.

It separates the response into three clear areas:

Reception

What patient language to listen for and how to arrange prompt clinical escalation without diagnosing or offering false reassurance.

Dental nurses

What concerns may be disclosed during other appointments and how to ensure they are communicated, recorded and not lost.

Clinicians

What needs to be assessed, documented, explained and escalated within current guidance and local pathways.

The guide finishes with four essential handover questions:

• What has been noticed?

• How long has it been present?

• What has changed or failed to improve?

• Who is responsible for the next action?

This resource was designed to support application after the formal learning session and act as a visible reminder within the practice.

3. A practice reflection and implementation tool

The third resource asks:

Could this patient be missed in our practice?

It helps teams examine whether their own systems reliably support:

• recognition of patient language;

• accurate information handover;

• timely clinical escalation;

• complete documentation;

• appropriate reassurance and safety-netting;

• clear ownership of follow-up.

Rather than ending with general reflection, the tool asks the team to agree:

• one improvement action;

• a named person responsible;

• a review date.

This gives the learning a practical route into local implementation and accountability.

How the three resources work together

The main learning exercise develops understanding and provides realistic practice context.

The quick guide supports action at the point of need.

The reflection tool helps teams identify and address weaknesses in their own process.

Together, they create a more complete learning journey:

Understand the risk → recognise the role → take the right action → improve the system

The outcome

A connected three-part clinical education package designed to support understanding, practical action and local process improvement.

Rather than treating oral cancer awareness as a clinician-only knowledge issue, the project addressed the full patient journey across the dental practice.

It demonstrates my ability to:

• identify where clinical guidance may fail to translate into everyday action;

• design learning for mixed clinical and non-clinical audiences;

• create role-specific resources without blurring professional boundaries;

• connect education with communication, workflow and accountability;

• develop supporting tools that reinforce learning beyond the main module.

As an independent portfolio project, the package demonstrates intended learning and practice outcomes rather than measured behavioural change.

→ View the whole-team learning exercise
→ View the one-page team quick guide
→ View the practice reflection and implementation tool