Records, Handover and Follow-Up

Records, Handover and Follow-Up is part of meeting P 3.8. For dental nurses, this means supporting patients, colleagues and safe systems while staying within your scope of practice.

Resource management in care decisions covers appointments, staff time, equipment, referrals and the use of primary and secondary care pathways. The goal is to use these resources fairly, safely and proportionately.

What to notice in practice

• Referral letters: help information reach the correct service or colleague promptly.
• Aftercare: ask what the patient or colleague needs next, then hand over or escalate clearly.
• Alerts: ensure important clinical or safety alerts are recorded and communicated.
• Review dates: close the loop so agreed follow-up is checked rather than forgotten.
• Missed actions: identify and address missed or incomplete tasks so care is not compromised.

Dental nurses support safe resource use by preparing well, spotting missing information, improving referral quality, reducing avoidable waste, using appointment time efficiently and escalating recurring bottlenecks that affect patients.

Practical good practice includes preparing appropriately, listening to patients and colleagues, checking understanding, handing over clearly, and raising repeated problems for practice learning.

Research and system context

Good resource management protects patients by using time, equipment and care networks appropriately.