Regulations governing dental practices continue to increase in amount and complexity year on year, to the point where adhering to rules has almost become a job in its own right for many dentists. The possibility is always there that some small aspect of CQC regulation or the HTM 01-05 protocols will slip the mind of even the most diligent practice owner. A professional service, such as the dbg 360 Accreditation Package, can save a huge amount of time and stress and guarantee that there will be few, if any, problems with medical or legal bodies.
The new dbg online accreditation package assists a practice with every aspect of identifying, understanding, implementing and monitoring current regulations, as well as scrutinising new ones. Its main feature is the Virtual Compliance Office (VCO), an online portal in the members' area of the website that enables users to ascertain all the ways in which their practice does or does not achieve the required standards.
The VCO allows dbg members to store any information about the practice that could be useful to regulatory authorities, inspect their current compliance status at a glance, and keep up-to-date with the latest updates and information from dbg. The degree to which a dental facility fulfils requirements relating to such matters as equipment contracts, fire safety, clinical waste disposal and health and safety legislation can be recorded and updated, allowing dentists to assess what action needs to be taken for them to achieve compliance. If new equipment, materials or sundries are necessary, then the VCO also leads directly into an online shopping facility.
The qualifications of staff members is another area in which the CQC and General Dental Council are likely to take an interest. Practice principals are responsible for ensuring staff have a suitable level of training that befits their role. Through the VCO, practices can collate their records of staff qualifications and grasp which educational courses are necessary to satisfy regulatory obligations on CPD and quality and safety. Furthermore, alongside traditional training courses held at the practice or another location, the portal will eventually offer innovative new teaching methods such as webinars, which allow staff to gain verifiable CPD in their own time. Hours of CPD earned via dbg will be automatically assigned to the individual within the practice profile via the VCO's 'track and trace CPD' function.
The VCO is a useful administrative tool to be used reactively when dentists are concerned or confused about meeting the necessary standards, but it is also a proactive resource which dentists can continually make use, even if their practice is fully compliant with every one of the CQC's 28 outcomes or 'essential quality requirements' listed in HTM 01-05. The number of criteria which dental practices have to fulfil has risen persistently over the past decade. Even if there are no further major changes made to the regulatory landscape, it is certain that relatively new legislation will be the subject of continuous small modifications. Some of these will be easy to overlook, but also a potential source of strife with the authorities.
Dentists with the complete cover bestowed by the dbg 360 Accreditation Service can be secure in the knowledge their workplace has been independently assessed and monitored via a thorough assessment undertaken by skilled professionals. Moreover, the fact a surgery has made use of the accreditation service indicates in itself that meeting regulatory standards is a high priority for the business and regulators will recognise this proactive approach.