Provision of oral medicine in Scottish oral and maxillofacial surgery units: where are we and where are we going?

Introduction Oral medicine (OM) care occupies a significant quantity of oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) outpatient clinical time. This survey aims to examine the current provision of OM care in OMFS units and explore opinions on how to improve the delivery of OM services across Scotland.Method An anonymous online questionnaire was distributed to all (33) OMFS consultants in Scotland. A range of questions were asked, covering place of work, formal OM training, proportion of time spent delivering OM clinical care, referral practices and support for a managed clinical network (MCN) in Scotland.Results A total of 18 (55%) OMFS consultants completed the survey. The majority of respondents (72%) worked in a university teaching hospital (UTH) setting. While none of the respondents were on the OM specialist register, most (72%) had received formal training in OM during their OMFS specialty training. Time dedicated to OM in outpatient clinics varied between less than 20% and 20-40% of clinical time. The majority of respondents (50%) referred 1-2 patients per month to OM. Most OMFS consultants (72%) felt that local OM services should be expanded and 78% would support the inclusion of OM specialists as part of the OMFS outpatient clinic team.Conclusion This study highlights the significant contribution to OM care within OMFS units in Scotland and emphasises the need for close collaboration between specialties. There is support for OM specialists to form part of the OMFS clinical team in UTHs or district general hospitals. Additionally, there is widespread support for the development of a MCN model of OM care in Scotland. A significant quantity of oral medicine care is provided in OMFS units.There is clear support for expansion of oral medicine care across Scotland.The managed clinical network model of care may be an appropriate way of delivering oral medicine care across Scotland.