Childsmile is NHS Scotland’s national oral health improvement programme for children. NHS Scotland’s Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy (2022-26) identifies climate change as a looming public health emergency. As an NHS service, Childsmile is supporting NHS Scotland to deliver against its strategic climate emergency and sustainability aims.
Childsmile embraces the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare’s four principles of sustainable healthcare:
Prevention
Promoting health and preventing disease by tackling the causes of dental disease and oral health inequalities. Preventing dental caries in children is the primary aim of the Childsmile Programme and all service delivery is aligned to this purpose. Recent research suggests the carbon cost of treatment can be as much as 40 times that of the carbon cost of prevention.
Patient self-care
Empowering families and children to take a greater role in managing their own oral health and healthcare. Childsmile supports families in local communities to empower them to adopt and maintain good oral health and dietary routines. The Childsmile Toothbrushing Programme helps to develop brushing skills in young children and embed good habits.
Lean service delivery
Streamlining the way we provide services and support families to minimise wasteful activities. Embedded monitoring and evaluation, and review of service delivery helps Childsmile to minimise wasteful activities.
Low carbon alternatives
Prioritising treatments, technologies and resources with a lower environmental impact. Childsmile continuously reviews resource and equipment use, to help identify and introduce lower carbon alternatives to support our service.