A new dental suite designed specifically for people with special needs has opened at Cheshunt Community Hospital.
A former minor surgery wing at the hospital has been refurbished and purpose designed to create a modern dental suite to treat Hertfordshire residents with special needs, ranging from physical and learning disabilities to medical conditions.
The clinic comprises three modern surgery areas housing the latest equipment and replaces the former site in nearby Hoddesdon, which had two surgeries.
The dental suite benefits from additional accessibility with wheelchair and step-free access, as well as larger dental chairs designed to allow easier access for those with special needs.
And a new sensory room will help patients relax. It features a film wall with high-definition projection, bubble tubes, and tranquil lighting and sound systems.
Hertfordshire Special Care Dental Service is an award-winning community dental service which is part of Hertfordshire Community Trust (HCT), which manages the hospital.
The new sensory room is proving particularly popular with patients
Ingleton Wood, a property and construction consultancy based in Billericay, was appointed to provide multi-disciplinary services for the entire project, including architecture, project management, quantity surveying, mechanical, and electrical consultancy.
Chris Mabbutt, partner, said: “We were pleased to project manage this important community development, which was delivered brilliantly by everyone despite the unique challenges of working in a busy healthcare environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.“We worked closely with Hertfordshire Special Care Dental Service to design and deliver the new state-of-the-art dental suite which will provide modern and specialist dental care to patients with special needs across Hertfordshire for generations to come.”
The dental clinic also boasts improved ventilation systems with large-scale air handling units installed to provide staff, patient,s and visitors with high standards of indoor air quality.
Una Monaghan, clinical director of special care dental service at Hertfordshire Community Trust, said: “We are so pleased with our wonderful new clinic and have had a lot of very positive comments from our patients.
“The sensory room is proving extremely popular with many adults and children, who find it helps them to cope better with their dental treatment.
“The clinics were designed with support from an expert with experience from the learning disability community and we genuinely believe this wonderful new health care facility is ideally placed to enable us to continue to deliver outstanding dental treatment.”
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The suite has better access, larger chairs, and three surgical areas