Infection control in the dental setting has once again been thrown into the limelight, following mass national media coverage of a situation where regulations are thought to have been breached. While stories varied somewhat in their ‘facts’ between news providers when first published, the fundamental concerns about compliance with protocols remained the same. Dentistry is widely acknowledged to be one of the most complaint healthcare industries in the UK, but when such situations reach the national media they do little to help the reputation of the majority of professionals who genuinely do their utmost to ensure the safety of their patients and colleagues.
It is however worth taking a minute to simply reflect on the protocols and processes implemented across your own practice. It is essential to make sure decontamination procedures are not only effective but also efficient, enabling a streamlined workflow for teams that doesn’t interfere with productivity or the patient experience.
To ensure there is no room for error throughout the sterilisation procedure a number of dental practices have invested in fully automated instrument tray tracking and documentation systems. Suitable for practices with a central sterilisation system or those who perform their own sterilisation, these systems ensure that all instruments are identified and accounted for and that the practice is compliant with all cross infection standards.
The beauty of a computerised system is that it takes care of everything; recording the date, the tray and the name of the patient the instruments have been used on. The most advanced systems can also link to the patient’s data file for thorough process documentation. In addition, users are alerted when a tray is approaching the end of its sterile period and needs reprocessing, or if a fault occurs at any point during the sterilisation cycle, so the operator can resolve the issue immediately. A complete data trail is automatically generated, which can be used to produce reports, whenever necessary at the touch of a button. Regular audits can also be performed with such data, ensuring the constant monitoring of protocols in place and traceability of all instruments.
In such a heavily regulated industry, with ever growing scrutiny on working practices, a highly pressurised working
environment can be created. Ironically, having to juggle all the administration often increases the risk of falling foul of the very organisations that practices are trying to appease.
For this reason, forward thinking practices are taking advantage of technological developments and innovations within dentistry and introducing solutions that automate as many of the day to day tasks as possible. When it comes to instrument tray-tracking and documentation software, one such solution is the Steritrak Instrument Tracking system
from Carestream Dental. The web-based service has been developed specifically to help dental practices meet the compulsory requirements of both the CQC and HTM 01-05.
Sterilisation and infection control is just one of the many areas that need careful attention within the modern dental practice. By assessing and possibly upgrading your technologies and protocols, you can ensure you have effective and efficient processes in place. By keeping standards high, you can ensure your patients and staff have the utmost confidence in their safety and in you.