Quality Assurance Policy
by Carrie PrestonShipston Dental Practice Quality Assurance
Our practice aims to provide dental care of a consistent quality for all patients; we strive to meet the high standards expected in any clinical setting. We expect all members of our dental team to work to these standards to help us achieve our aim of providing a quality service.
The policies, systems and processes in place in our practice reflect our professional and legal responsibilities and follow recognised standards of good practice. We aim to achieve the best results for our patients through clear policies and systems and appropriately trained and competent team members. We evaluate our practice on a regular basis through audit, peer review and patient feedback and monitor the effectiveness of our quality assurance procedures. We take guidance from external agencies, including the British Dental Association, General Dental Council, Care Quality Commission.
Quality standards and procedures
Shipston Dental Practice has effective procedures for assuring and enhancing the quality of the services we provide for our patients. We have been a member of the BDA’s Good Practice Scheme since 2003 and we are committed to supporting our patients towards achieving and maintaining good oral health.
In providing our patients with care of a consistent quality, we will:
- Provide a safe and welcoming environment
- Ensure all members of the dental team are appropriately trained
- Provide patient with information about the practice and the care available and ensure the patient understands the terms on which care is offered
- Display indicative treatment charges
- Explain treatment options and agree clinical decisions with the patient explaining the possible risks involved with each option
- Provide treatment plans based on the agreed treatment with an estimate of the likely costs
- Obtain valid consent for all treatment. Written consent will be sought for extensive or expensive treatments and treatment provided under conscious sedation
- Refer to specialists for investigation or treatment as appropriate and without undue delay
- Maintain contemporaneous clinical records with an up-to-date medical history for all patients
- Provide secure storage of patient records to maintain patient confidentiality
- Explain the procedure to follow for raising a complaint about the service, identifying the practice contact
- Display the BDA Good Practice Scheme plaque and have information about the scheme available to patients
For our dental team, we undertake to:
- Provide a safe working environment through hazard identification and risk assessment
- Provide induction training for all new team members
- Provide job descriptions and contracts of employment to all members of staff.
- Review job descriptions regularly to reflect current duties and responsibilities
- Agree in writing the terms for all self-employed contractors working at the practice
- Provide ongoing training and identify opportunities for development for all employees
- Maintain staff records ensuring the following information is up to date:
- relevant medical history information and emergency contact details
- absence through holiday and sickness
- performance reviews
- Support in house and external training
- Ensure that all staff are kept up to date with all practice policies, procedures and patient charges.
The dental team
Team members implement and adhere to the practice policies and procedures which are readily accessible in the folders kept in the Office.
All new member of the team receive training in practice-wide procedures, policies and quality assurance activities as part of their induction. Appraisal meetings take place annually and include an assessment of training needs.
We expect everyone working at the practice to
- Understand our aims and objectives
- Have an understanding of the skills and competencies required to deliver the services successfully
- Understand and participate in our quality assurance activities.
- Be able to deal with emergencies, including medical emergencies
Dentists and, where appropriate, hygienists also understand the policies and procedures for:
- Referring patients
- Requesting work from laboratories
- Ordering materials and equipment
- Clinical governance requirements and CQC standards of quality and safety
- Professional and legal requirements affecting dentistry.
All GDC registrants meet their continuing professional development requirements and, as required by the GDC, maintain records of their individual CPD activity. In addition, the practice maintains records of all practice-wide training it provides and training provided for individual members.
Clinical Governance
We use clinical governance to ensure we deliver a consistent standard of care to our patients in the following areas:
- Infection control
- Safeguarding children, young people and at risk adults
- Dental radiography
- Staff, patient, public and environmental safety assessment
- Evidence-based practice and research
- Prevention and public health
- Clinical records, patient privacy and confidentiality
- Staff involvement and staff development
- Clinical staff requirements and development
- Patient information and patient feedback
- Fair and accessible care
- Clinical audit and peer review
Policies and procedures
The following policies and procedures are in place in the practice and reviewed regularly to ensure their relevance and currency:
- Accessible Information and DDA 1995 considerations taken
- Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Strategy
- Complaints handling
- Confidentiality
- Data protection privacy notice , Data security and Access to information held
- Employment policies and procedures:
- Disciplinary matters
- Grievance
- Sickness/injury absence and pay
- Staff appraisals
- Training
- Underperformance and whistleblowing
- Equal opportunities and harassment
- Equality and diversity
- Environment
- Health and safety:
- Electrical appliance test records
- Fire precautions and risk assessment
- Health and safety
- HTM 01-05
- Infection control
- Radiation safety
- Records management
- Risk assessment, including COSHH
- Safer sharps
- Healthcare waste disposal
- Water treatment
- Working with amalgam
- Patient payment
- Patient referral
- Records Management and Data Quality
- Reporting and Managing Incidents and Near Misses
- Quality Assurance in Radiation
- Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults
- Violence and aggression
Audit
We undertake regular audits of our procedures and protocols to monitor our service to our patients eg radiation image quality, record keeping. We regularly review patient safety incidents, accidents or near misses, patient comments, compliments, complaints and suggestions.
In relation to clinical governance:
- Everyone understands what the practice is supposed to do
- Everyone understands their role in delivering the service
- We monitor all our policies and procedures and how these are implemented
- We review our policies and procedures on a regular basis to identify where improvements can be made
- We conduct internal audits and monitor the quality of the service we provide.
- We share information and encourage staff members to raise any issues
- We encourage and make provision for CPD, staff training and development
- We seek the views of our patients to identify opportunities for improvement in service provision
May 2020