Reasonable Adjustments and Inclusive Communication

Reasonable Adjustments and Inclusive Communication supports P 3.10. Dental nurses should be able to support patients and colleagues, and to use local routes for escalation, without working beyond their scope of practice.

Barriers to access include cost, transport, disability, language, digital exclusion, fear, trauma, homelessness, care responsibilities, protected characteristics and previous poor experiences. Equality law and duties on accessible information mean these are professional responsibilities, not only customer care matters.

What to notice in practice

• Reasonable adjustments: ask what the patient or colleague needs and then hand over or escalate clearly.
• Accessible information: check whether the system supports fair access to care.
• Quiet space: ask what the patient or colleague needs and then hand over or escalate clearly.
• Longer appointments: ask what the patient or colleague needs and then hand over or escalate clearly.
• Supporters: ask what the patient or colleague needs and then hand over or escalate clearly.

Patients often tell dental nurses when they feel embarrassed, frightened or excluded. Nurses can arrange practical adjustments, complete handovers and signpost appropriately while reporting recurring barriers as issues for practice improvement.

Good practice is practical and visible: prepare for appointments, listen, check understanding, hand over clearly and report repeating problems so the practice can learn and adjust systems.

Research and system context

Supporting access means noticing barriers early and helping patients negotiate them without blame.