Community Dental Services CIC’s Prisons team named Team of the Year

Community Dental Services CIC (CDS)’s Prisons team has been named Team of The Year (fewer than 25 employees) at the Dental Industry Awards 2024, reflecting their commitment to exceptional dental care in prisons across Norfolk, Suffolk, and Hertfordshire.

Providing dental services in the Healthcare department of His Majesty’s Prisons (HMP), the team’s strong bond and support for each other as well as excellent working relationships with the wider prison healthcare system and prison governors set them apart.

The award recognised the team for their effective communication; their ability to maintain remote team cohesive and bonding in a lone working, high-stress environment and well as their team ethos of working seamlessly together to improve prisoner’s oral health and overall well-being, making a positive impact on their lives. Their “Every Contact Counts” philosophy sees the team helping to educate and prevent oral health issues among prisoners and educating prison health care staff on the importance of good oral health and its impact on other health conditions, confidence, and well-being. The award also reflects the positive contribution of the enhanced dental nursing role in the prisons recently introduced by CDS on their secure setting contracts, triaging patients and promoting positive oral health.

Robert Sapeta, Associate Operations Director for CDS’s Prison service was delighted the team has been recognised in the prestigious awards: “The CDS Prison team provides exemplary care in a challenging environment. Just accessing our clinic involves security measures such as fingerprinting, searches, body pat downs and sniffer dogs; then there are nine locked doors to reach the clinic. Despite daily procedures, our team is calm, professional, and dedicated to their jobs and improving the oral health and wellbeing of our patients.”

CDS currently provides dental care in the following prisons:

HMP North Sea Camp
HMP Bure
HMP Wayland
HMP Norwich
HMP Highpoint
HMP Warren Hill
HMP Hollesley Bay
HMP The Mount