Clinical Governance & Quality Assurance Policy

Contents

Summary

Purpose

Scope

The 7 Principles of Good Clinical Governance

General Quality Assurance in our Dental Practice

England Guidance

Summary

All team members working for The Composite Bonding Company have responsibility and accountability as registered managers and registered professionals with the General Dental Council to ensure that our patient care is of the highest standards, safe and of the best quality.

This Policy will outline our processes for clinical governance and quality assurance. Purpose

This policy is set out to ensure that we are abiding and following effective and safe systems of clinical governance on a daily basis, to ensure we give our patients the best standard of care.

This is achieved by:

 Having systems to measure the quality and effectiveness of care.

 Having good standards of risk management

 Ensuring clinical care is focused and driven by improvement.

 Having systems that are able to correctly use regulatory engagement and identify regulatory change. Scope

This policy applies to all persons working in our practice.

The 7 Principles of Good Clinical Governance

Audit

Auditing evaluates existing practice against the gold standard of practice. Through this, we try to identify any shortcomings and develop methods to improve our outcomes. Ultimately, this aims to improve the quality of care we provide. An example of this would be auditing radiographs using the CGDent standards of Grade A or N (Guidance Notes for Dental Practitioners on the Safe Use of X-ray Equipment).

The Composite Bonding Company, 94 Broadway

Carrying out an audit involves identifying a particular area of interest/concern; researching a standard to compare it to; collecting the data to compare; analysing the data and identifying shortcomings; implementing methods of change and, finally, re-auditing after a time period to close the loop and assess improvements.

Patient Experience

Enhancing the patient experience is a key aspect of clinical governance. By capturing patient feedback, measuring patient satisfaction, and optimising care delivery processes, we ensure patients receive the best possible experience throughout their journey.

Risk Management

Mitigating and managing clinical risks is central to clinical governance, we have structures and processes to ensure we can identify, and reduce risks where possible.

Clinical Effectiveness

We ensure that we use the best available evidence and research to provide the best possible outcomes for patients. We always work in the best interests of the patient and this aspect ensures we provide the best care. Examples of this include:

 Carrying out evidence-based practice when deciding treatments and decision-making  Using standards and guidelines to help inform care e.g. CGDent radiograph guidelines, NICE guidelines on wisdom tooth extraction. These are all backed by evidence.

 Conducting new research to inform new guidelines, papers and standards to continually improve care  Implementation of new standards and guidelines as they are developed.

Learning and Development

A dental career is a career of continual learning. In the UK, the GDC requires dental professionals to carry out CPD. This ensures that professionals remain up to date with the latest skills, knowledge, and research – linking into Clinical Effectiveness and Research. This may involve:

 Work appraisals with employed colleagues to assess competency and areas of improvement/further training.

 Completing further training e.g. certificates, diplomas or degrees

 Attending courses, conferences and lectures to help further knowledge and skills Conclusion

Clinical governance serves as the cornerstone of modern healthcare, ensuring patient safety, quality of care, and organisational excellence. Our advanced software aligns perfectly with the seven pillars of clinical governance, offering healthcare organisations the tools and capabilities to navigate the complex healthcare landscape successfully. By embracing our cutting-edge technology, healthcare providers can elevate their clinical governance practices, enhance patient outcomes, and drive continuous improvement.

General Quality Assurance in our Dental Practice

Our dental practice shall establish and operate a practice-based quality assurance system which is applicable to any dental practitioner or person employed/engaged by the contractor, who performs services under the dental contract.

We shall ensure that with respect to its practice-based quality assurance system, it has nominated a person to be responsible for operating that system and will ensure:

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 effective measures of infection control are used;

 all legal requirements relating to health and safety in the workplace are satisfied;  all legal requirements relating to radiological protection are satisfied;

 any requirements of the General Dental Council in respect of the continuing professional development of dental practitioners are satisfied; and

 the requirement to display in a prominent position the written statement relating to the quality assurance system.

Our practice aims to provide dental care of a consistent quality, for all our patients. We will have management systems to help us define each practice member’s responsibilities when looking after patients.

In proposing treatment, we will consider patients’ own wishes. We will explain options, where appropriate, and costs so that patients can make an informed choice. We will always explain what we are doing. We will do all we can to look after their dental health. We will ask about the patient’s general health, and about any medicines being taken. This helps us treat patients safely. We will keep all information about patients confidential.

Contamination control is also essential to the safety of our patients. Every practice member receives training in practice systems for contamination control. All staff joining the practice is given training in practice-wide procedures. Once a year, there is an individual review of training needs for everyone in the practice.

We ask and advise patients about tobacco and alcohol use because they increase the risks of dental intervention and oral cancer risk.

Practice working methods are reviewed regularly at meetings. We encourage all staff to make suggestions for improving the care we give patients. We regularly ask patients for their views on our services and we have systems for dealing promptly with patient complaints and for ensuring that lessons are learned from any mistakes we make.

All dental professionals in the practice take part in continuing professional development, meeting GDC requirements. We aim to keep up to date with current thinking on all aspects of general dentistry, including preventative care, which reduces a patient’s need for treatment.

All members of the practice know of the need to ensure that dentists are working safely. In the unlikely event that a dentist in this practice becomes unfit to practice, we have systems to ensure that concerns are investigated and, if necessary, acted upon.

A compressed version of the Quality Assurance Statement can be sourced in the DCME Compliance Suite > Practice Logs & Checklists > Documents to display.

England Guidance

Reporting, learning and improvement from incidents

RIDDOR

All RIDDOR reportable injuries to staff and visitors to the practice will be reported under the usual RIDDOR reporting systems:

Online

Via the website, https://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/report.htm#online and by completing the online report form. The form is then submitted directly to the RIDDOR database. A copy of the form returned by HSE will be retained by The Composite Bonding Company

The Composite Bonding Company, 94 Broadway

Telephone

Telephone reporting will be for fatal and specified injuries only. The contact number is 0345 300 9923 (opening hours Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5 pm).

Inoculation Injuries

Staff at The Composite Bonding Company will make a record of any sharps injury and governance arrangements will be enacted to investigate the circumstances and causes of the incident and take any action required.

The extent of the accident investigation will be proportionate to the potential severity of the incident. For example, where an employee has injured themselves with a clean needle as they take it out of the packet it will usually be enough to record the details and ensure they receive any first aid required.

Injuries involving a used needle will involve a more detailed analysis and an appropriate record will be kept of the findings of the investigation because of the health implications to the employee with respect to Hepatitis B and HIV. Sharps injuries must be reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) if:

 an employee is injured by a sharp known to be contaminated with a blood-borne virus (BBV), e.g. hepatitis B or C or HIV. This is reportable as a dangerous occurrence;

 the employee receives a sharps injury and a BBV acquired by this route seroconverts. This is reportable as a disease;

 if the injury itself is so severe that it must be reported.

If the sharps is not contaminated with a BBV, or the source of the sharps injury cannot be traced, it is not reportable to HSE, unless the injury itself causes an over-seven-day injury. If the employee develops a disease attributable to the injury, then it must be reported.

Adverse Drug Reactions

Lauren Fisher will ensure that any patient-reported drug reactions as well as those that occur during clinical treatment are reported through the Yellow Card website or by post using the form obtainable from the Yellow Card website

MHRA Reporting

For problems associated with medical devices within or without laboratory-made appliances, Lauren Fisher uses the MHRA online reporting system.

An investigation post medical emergencies in the dental chair

Following any medical emergency, a full investigation will be undertaken to examine any underlying causes that relate to adverse drug reactions or COSHH issues.

Duty of Candour under Regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (regulated Activities) Regulations 2014

Lauren Fisher will follow the spirit of this regulation by ensuring that we are open and transparent with people who use services and other ‘relevant persons’ (people acting lawfully on their behalf) in general in relation to care and treatment received at our practice. This will be facilitated by informing people about the incident, providing reasonable support, providing truthful information and an apology when things go wrong.

The Composite Bonding Company, 94 Broadway

Reliable safety systems and processes (including Safeguarding)

First and foremost, all staff who will be working with children and vulnerable adults will be required, before being appointed to work, a criminal record or DBS check undertaken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) as part of their assessment of suitability for employment. The records of these checks will be viewed by the responsible named person at the practice, and a copy of the application date and number will be stored in each Staff Member’s personnel file. The original copy should not be stored at the practice and should be given back to the individual.

To ensure that staffs fully understands safeguarding issues with respect to children and vulnerable adults, staff will be required to undergo update training on a three-yearly basis.

The practice will hold a copy of the Department of Health’s ‘Child Protection and the Dental Team’ Handbook for reference and the practice team will be able to gain access to the Child Protection and the Dental Team website for the latest changes and updates to the guidance.

Other references we refer to are:

The Care Act 2014 – Relates to training.

Regulation 13: Safeguarding service Users from abuse and improper treatment.

As part of the regular team meetings, ‘safeguarding’ will be a standing item. Whereby practice team members will be able to bring to the attention of the whole team, any situations that may be related to safeguarding issues to enable whole team discussions to take place and to share any learning.

Prominently displayed in the practice will be the local flow charts with contact numbers for the local child and vulnerable adult protection team. As part of induction, all new staff will be required to familiarise themselves with the local arrangements.

Safeguarding and Was Not Brought

Children who repeatedly fail to attend appointments for dental treatment or who present with dental neglect or with facial or other injuries that are not concomitant with the presenting history may require advice from the local child protection team following the Was Not Brought Protocols. At the very least staff will contact the service for advice as to how to proceed. Likewise, if vulnerable adults present with obvious signs of neglect or facial or other injuries that are not concomitant with the presenting history local adult safeguarding services will be contacted.

Sharps

Other reliable safety systems will include compliance with the EU Safer Sharps Directive 2010/32/EU and the Health and Safety (Sharps Instruments in Healthcare) 2013.

Medical Emergencies

To prevent medical emergencies the practice will ensure that it conforms to the guidance as set out by the current Resuscitation Council UK and British National Formulary guidelines for emergency equipment and medicines.

Respectively The Composite Bonding Company has in place the following emergency medicines:  Adrenaline injection (1:1000, 1 mg/ml)

The Composite Bonding Company, 94 Broadway

 Aspirin dispersible (300mg)

 Glucagon injection 1mg

 Oral glucose solution/tablets/gel/powder

 Glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) spray (400 micrograms / dose)

 Midazolam (buccal) pre-filled syringes

 Oxygen Cylinder (CD size recommended)

 Salbutamol aerosol inhaler (100 micrograms / actuation)

The following minimum equipment list is in place:

 Protective equipment – gloves, aprons, eye protection

 Pocket mask with oxygen port

 Portable suction e.g. Yankauer

 Oropharyngeal airways sizes 0,1,2,3,4

 Self-inflating bag with reservoir (adult)

 Self-inflating bag with reservoir (child)

 Clear face masks for self-inflating bag (sizes 0,1,2,3,4)

 Oxygen cylinder (CD size)

 Oxygen masks with reservoir Adult and Paediatric (High concentration masks)

 Oxygen tubing (spares)

 Automated external defibrillator (AED)

 Adhesive defibrillator pads

 Razor

 Scissors

A Quality Assurance Process

Expiry dates for emergency medicines and equipment and availability of oxygen will be checked at least weekly.

Visual checks of the Defibrillator and Oxygen will be conducted daily.

Team-based BLS training will be undertaken at least on a yearly basis.

Staff recruitment

All staff recruitment will be underpinned using Schedule 3 of Regulation 18 ensuring that staff are qualified, registered where necessary with the General Dental Council and have undergone essential pre-employment checks including DBS checks, health declaration, having in place indemnity insurance and 2 written references where applicable to the requirements of the regulation.

Monitoring health & safety and responding to risks

The practice has in place systems and processes that satisfy the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 with respect to:

 Electrical Safety

 Fire precautions

 Pressure Vessels

 Radiation

 The control of Legionella

 Clinical waste control

 Manual handling

The Composite Bonding Company, 94 Broadway

 Welfare arrangements for staff and patients

 Display screen equipment

 COSHH

Infection control

The practice will use guidance from:

NICE Healthcare-associated infections: prevention and control in primary and community care Health and Social Care Act 2008: code of practice on the prevention and control of infections.

HTM 01-05 Decontamination in primary care dental practices

Relating to CQC Regulations 12 & 15

The practice will be compliant with HTM 01 05’s Essential Quality Requirements. The governance system in relation to infection control will cover the following areas:

 A local infection control policy

 A nominated lead member of staff responsible for infection control and decontamination  Storage, preparation and use of materials used in decontamination conform to COSHH regulations  Clear procedures in place for ensuring appropriate management of single-use and reusable instruments

 Reprocessing of dental instruments must be undertaken using dedicated equipment  Dedicated hand-washing facilities must be available

 Cleaning and inspection are key parts of satisfactory dental instrument reprocessing  Instrument reprocessing procedures are separated from other activities, including clinical work i.e. obvious zoning demarking clean from dirty areas

 Appropriate instrument storage and wrapping procedures are in place

 Equipment used to decontaminate dental instruments must be maintained, tested, validated and be fit for purpose

 Staff involved in decontamination must have current immunisation for Hepatitis B  Processes for the management and disposal of clinical waste

 A quality assurance system and audit of decontamination procedures.

 Infection control Audits will be carried out every 6 months.

 Policies and processes in relation to the use of safer sharps

 Safe procedures for the transfer of contaminated items from the treatment area to the decontamination area/facility

Clinical Waste

The practice will be compliant in line with the HTM 07 01’s guidance on Healthcare waste, the newest version for 2022 supersedes the 2006 & 2013 Guidance.

Equipment and medicines

Related to regulation 12.

All equipment will be maintained according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Included in this equipment inventory will be:

 Decontamination equipment

 X-ray Sets

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 Electrical Testing regimes including PAT/Fixed Wire

 Fire equipment

 Small dental equipment

Medicines used in the practice will be prescribed according to the Faculty of General Dental Practice guidelines and supplied in accordance with current guidelines from the British Pharmacological Society.

Radiography (X-rays)

Dental radiography will comply with the Ionising Radiation Regulations 2017 and Ionising Radiation Medical Exposure Regulations 2017.

The practice will have a named Radiation Protection Advisor: This person is usually a member of a local hospital medical physics department or various dental equipment supply companies can fulfil the role.

The practice will have a Radiation Protection Supervisor: This person is normally a dentist at the practice but dental nurses who hold an appropriate additional qualification in dental radiography can fulfil the role.

The practice will demonstrate a well-maintained radiation protection file.

The essential features of a radiation protection file:

 Names of Radiation Protection Advisor, Radiation Protection Supervisor

 Local rules*

 Contingency arrangements to address foreseeable accidents.

 Inventory of all X-ray equipment

 HSE notification

 A list of staff using the X-ray sets in the practice

 Critical Examination packs for all x-ray sets used in the practice.

 Acceptance Test

 Current maintenance logs (within the last 3 years as a minimum)

 CPD in relation to dental radiography for all staff

 Current audit of radiography within the last 6-12 months.

*In accordance with the Guidance notes for dental practitioners on the safe use of x-ray equipment 2020, Section 2.16 states:

Local rules are mandatory for any work that takes place in a controlled area. The local rules must be drafted following consultation with the RPA, set down in writing and brought to the attention of all employees and other persons who may be affected by them (see section 2.21). The current version of the local rules should also be readily accessible by the staff to whom they relate. This may be achieved by saving the document in an accessible electronic form, placing a printed copy in a central ‘radiation protection file’ or displaying copies in the practice.

When radiographs are taken the clinical record should contain the following criteria:

 A justification

 An x-ray report detailing the findings.

 A quality assurance score (QA) of A (diagnostically acceptable) or N (diagnostically unacceptable) The Effective Practice

Monitoring and improving outcomes for patients

The Composite Bonding Company, 94 Broadway

Dentists working at the practice will use current professional guidelines including NICE guidelines to guide their clinical practice.

Lauren Fisher will operate a system whereby clinical performance and quality are monitored on a regular basis. This system will include using the regular team meeting as a vehicle where all of the staff takes ownership of clinical performance and quality within the practice. Examples of this are:

Health promotion & prevention

Oral health promotion and preventative interventions will be aligned with the principles as set out in the Department of Health ‘Delivering Better Oral Health Toolkit.

Staffing

Lauren Fisher will ensure that staffs have the appropriate qualifications, skills and knowledge to carry out their role effectively. To facilitate this aim:

 All employees are appropriately qualified and competent to do their jobs or agree to acquire the necessary skills and qualifications.

 Trainees are given tasks that are appropriate to their stage of training and competence.  All those new to working in the practice will be required to read, understand and agree to adopt the standards, policies and procedures within the practices’ clinical governance framework.  Details of the induction procedure undertaken should be kept in individual training files to be updated by each team member.

 Qualifications, knowledge and skills are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure they are up to date with current practice.

 Staff will be encouraged to obtain additional qualifications to improve the care for patients.  A regular individual appraisal will be made and a personal development plan can be agreed upon wherever possible.

Lauren Fisher ensures staffs are suitable for their role by:

 Following effective recruitment and selection procedures to ensure they are able to perform their role.

 Temporary staff, and others providing specific services, are subject to the same level of checks and selection criteria as staff recruited for permanent positions.

 Where staff are provided through an agency, written confirmation is obtained from the Agency that all the necessary checks have been undertaken.

Working with other services

The practice will refer patients to other providers if the patient’s clinical care requires it. Patients will be referred to other primary, secondary and tertiary care providers using referral protocols developed by either the relevant Managed Clinical Networks or the providers themselves.

Consent to care and treatment

Consent to care and treatment will be based on the principle of valid informed consent. The practice has in place a consent policy and clinicians will use the criteria under the Mental Capacity Act and Gillick Competency to underpin their decision-making.

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Oral Cancer

It is key that all primary care practitioners are aware of the signs and symptoms of oral cancer. They should know when and where to refer. Effective collaboration between practitioners will optimise care. It can lead to better patient outcomes. For GPs, that means providing support, advice and information to patients. This is so patients can get a dental assessment and dental care before starting radiotherapy (where necessary). General dental practitioners (GDPs) should also communicate with and notify GPs when referring a patient through the suspected cancer pathway.

The Caring Practice

Respect, dignity, compassion & empathy

Clinical and Information Governance/records:

Regulation 17.

The management of personal and sensitive data of patients and others will comply with the GDPR 2018. The quality of clinical record-keeping will be maintained through the rolling programme of clinical audit which will include an audit of each clinician’s record-keeping standards at least twice yearly.

Involvement in decisions about care and treatment

Regulation 9

Patients will be provided with adequate information so that they can make informed decisions about their care. Included in this information will be the costs for private treatment. Patients will also be given information on the risks and benefits of treatment.

The Responsive Practice

Responding to and meeting patients’ needs

Patients will be provided with information about the practice through the patient information leaflet. This will detail how to make a complaint, the dentists working at the practice and out-of-hours information.

Tackling inequity and promoting equality

The premises will comply as far as is practically possible with the Equality Act 2010.

The staff at the practice will ensure that all members of the community will be treated fairly and equitably the principles under the Equality Act 2010 by ensuring that people are not discriminated on the grounds of age, disability (which includes mental health and people diagnosed as clinically obese), race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment (people who are having or who have had a sex change, transvestites and transgender people), marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity, also known as ‘protected characteristics’.

From a practical point of view, this will involve:

 Identifying whether communication aids are required, including the use of interpreters, to ensure that the patient fully understands the dentist’s explanations and discussions and can make informed choices

 Patients will be freely invited to ask questions and their views about their care, treatment needs and options are considered which may include the use of interpreters.

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 Appropriate explanations in simple non-technical jargon will be given to patients about the need to undertake any special investigations (such as radiographs, pulp vitality tests, study models etc.).  Results and implications of all such tests will be discussed in simple non-technical jargon and recorded in the clinical record.

 Explaining the care, treatment and support choices available to patients in simple non-technical jargon.

 Enabling patients to express their views, so far as they can do so, and are involved in making decisions about their care, treatment and support.

 Patient’s privacy, dignity and independence are always respected.

 Patient’s views and experiences are considered in the way the service is provided and delivered. Access to the service

Patients will be able to access care with minimal waiting times during normal working times. Emergency slots will be available for patients requiring urgent care during normal surgery hours. Patients requiring out-of hours care will do so through the out-of-hours contact number.

Concerns & complaints

Relates to Regulation 16.

At The Composite Bonding Company we will ensure patients’ comments and complaints are listened to and acted on effectively. There will not be discrimination against making a complaint. This is because Lauren Fisher will comply with the regulations by:

 Having a system in place to deal with comments and complaints, including providing patients with information about that system.

 Supporting patients or others acting on their behalf to make comments and complaints  Consider fully, respond appropriately and resolve, where possible, any comments and complaints.

The culture in the practice will be that patients will be listened to and that action will be taken when needed. All staff will be required to undergo updated training on how to deal with complaints to ensure that they understand the principles of correct complaint handling. Staff will endeavour to follow some simple rules when dealing with complaints in an empathetic way.

 Don’t suggest deferring making the complaint or going away to write it down!

 Suggest you find a suitable area to sit face-to-face with the patient where a conversation is not overheard

 Smile and try to help the patient to help you understand

 Listen carefully and do not interrupt.

 Allow them to finish what they want to say

 Repeat some of the key parts using their words. This helps to show you have listened and understand the nature of the complaint

 Empathise, you can be genuinely sorry that this has happened to them. It is perfectly acceptable to say that you are sure that the particular dentist would be sorry to hear they feel this. But you should not blame anyone or make an undeliverable promise

 Explain how you propose to gather more information and talk to those involved first  Explain how long it will take to gather information and therefore when you will come back to them with an answer

 Check with them the best way of contacting them

 Always follow up, preferably sooner than you promised, but never later

 Check that they are satisfied and haven’t just left the practice nursing their grievance  Write it up and keep a complaints tracker. Analyse complaints to check for any recurring trends and discuss them at a practice meeting to ensure you have prevented recurrence.

The Composite Bonding Company, 94 Broadway

The Well Led Practice

Governance arrangements

Lauren Fisher will be the person responsible for providing day-to-day responsibility for the quality of care provided by the practice. Lauren Fisher will also provide the clinical and business leadership to drive the improvement agenda forward. To assist with the discharge of these duties will be an empowered practice manager.

Leadership, openness and transparency

Lauren Fisher will adopt an open-door policy and will afford staff due regard with respect to any whistleblowing allegations. Staff reporting adverse incidents or situations that gives rise to concern will be listened to without prejudice. Staff will be encouraged to report any instance where there is a safety issue for both staff and patients alike.

The culture within The Composite Bonding Company will be that there will be a ‘no blame culture’ with respect to adverse incidents. Adverse incidents will be treated as an opportunity for insight, learning and reflection to be gained so that staff and patients can benefit in terms of improved safety within the practice.

Learning and improvement

Underpinning the quality of clinical care will be a rolling programme of clinical audits which will include regular audits of:

Infection Control – Infection Control audit tool carried out every 6 months. What are the results? Where do we need to improve?

Dental Radiography – Are we meeting IR(ME)R 2017 guidelines? What are the percentages of grade A or N images? If the % of N-graded films is more than 5% for digital images & 10% for standard film imaging, what is the action plan/introduction of new systems/training needs?

The employer’s QA programme should incorporate a clearly defined regime to ensure that image quality is rated and the results analysed to permit comparison with the agreed performance targets. The image quality rating and analysis should be undertaken by an operator who is adequately trained and experienced in taking dental radiographs (or dental CBCT images) of the types being rated or audited. Two alternative approaches are suggested:

a) A prospective evaluation whereby image quality ratings are assigned and recorded for all radiographs as they are being viewed.

b) A retrospective evaluation whereby a suitably representative sample of radiographs is drawn from clinical records at regular intervals, the image quality ratings are assigned and recorded, and the results analysed.

Clinical Record Keeping; Carried out at least 6-12 monthly. What are the results? Are the records meeting basic requirements?

Reasonable clinical records should demonstrate the following:

1. The patient’s complaint/purpose of appointment

2. An assessment

3. A diagnosis

4. Treatment options/advice

5. Details of the treatment carried out

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Adverse Incidents – How many? Did they require formal reporting?

Medical Emergencies – How many? What was the cause? Action plan/learning

If there are any instances of underperforming with respect to dentists, this will be addressed through a system of individual clinical discussions and peer review with Lauren Fisher in the first instance. Other members of staff including dental nurses will undergo a system of annual appraisal and performance reviews. The practice manager will keep detailed minute records of staff meetings and maintain a log of outcomes and progress of the standing items of the practice meetings to ensure that that momentum is not lost.

The practice seeks and acts on feedback from its patients, the public and staff

At The Composite Bonding Company we will use a variety of methods for receiving patient and public feedback. The most commonly used examples will be:

 Bespoke in-house patient survey forms which will gather the patient experience around cleanliness of the practice, staff attitude, appointment waiting times and the quality of the care provided. These will be carried out on an ongoing basis.

 Suggestion boxes placed in the waiting area.

Whatever method is chosen, the important point will be that the results will be analysed, discussed and acted upon. Results of the outcomes of patient feedback will be discussed at each practice team meeting. Everyone will be able to share in praise where feedback is positive and, where feedback is not so good, offer suggestions for improvement. Any adverse feedback will result in an appropriate action plan with improvement actions being implemented within reasonable time frames.

Notes of the team meeting discussions will facilitate the development of any action plans so that everyone who is involved knows what areas they will be responsible for. Improvements as a result of patient feedback will be displayed clearly within the practice to demonstrate the commitment of the practice to improving services to patients. Records will be retained to demonstrate to commissioners and the Care Quality Commission as evidence that the practice takes seriously the voice of the patient with respect to improving services.

The Composite Bonding Company shall establish and operate a practice-based quality assurance system which is applicable to any dental practitioner or person employed/engaged by the contractor, who performs services under the dental contract.

We shall ensure that with respect to its practice-based quality assurance system, it has nominated a person to be responsible for operating that system and will ensure:

 effective measures of infection control are used;

 all legal requirements relating to health and safety in the workplace are satisfied;  all legal requirements relating to radiological protection are satisfied;

 any requirements of the General Dental Council in respect of the continuing professional development of dental practitioners are satisfied; and

 the requirement to display in a prominent position the written statement relating to the quality assurance system.

Our practice aims to provide dental care of a consistent quality, for all our patients. We will have management systems to help us, and which define each practice member’s responsibilities when looking after patients.

In proposing treatment, we will consider patients’ own wishes. We will explain options, where appropriate, and costs so that patients can make an informed choice. We will always explain what we are doing. We will do all we can to look after dental health. We will ask you about the patient’s general health, and about any

The Composite Bonding Company, 94 Broadway

medicines being taken. This helps us treat patients safely. We will keep all information about patients confidential.

Contamination control is also essential to the safety of our patients. Every practice member receives training in practice systems for contamination control. All staff joining the practice is given training in practice-wide procedures. Once a year there is an individual review of training needs for everyone in the practice.

We ask and advise patients about tobacco and alcohol use because they increase the risks of dental intervention and oral cancer risk.

All dental professionals in the practice take part in continuing professional development meeting GDC requirements. We aim to keep up to date with current thinking on all aspects of general dentistry, including preventative care, which reduces a patient’s need for treatment.