Transparent infection control

All healthcare providers have a duty of care to ensure that appropriate measures are in place to minimise the risk of infection within the healthcare setting. After all, patients deserve to be treated in a safe, clean environment with consistent standards of care every time they visit.

To ensure these standards are met, the Department of Health has set out a number of Health Technical Memorandums (HTMs), which, along with international standards and UK government legislation, establish key benchmarks for standards of care across the healthcare sector. Of particular importance for the dental profession is HTM 01-05: decontamination in primary care dental practices. All dental professionals should be familiar with this document, which was first published in 2009, and was subsequently updated in March 2013.

Though controversial for some, HTM 01-05 has played a crucial role in setting out specific benchmarks in terms of ‘essential quality requirements’ and ‘best practice’. This has helped to ensure consistent decontamination protocols are adhered to across the profession, with the ultimate goal of reducing the risks associated with the spread of infection in the dental practice.