CQC and the team

For some time now the idea of whole team professionalism has been considered to be the way forward for excellent patient care and career satisfaction for dental care professionals. Over the years new initiatives such as clinical governance and DCP registration have been introduced, which have inched us forward with this aspiration.

In some practices their team ethos, along with the implementation of a wide range of team development initiatives, have allowed DCPs thrive and grow.  Without exception these practices have reaped the benefits of their team’s development input. However, such practices are small in number compared to the greater majority in which very little has changed despite dental nurse registrations and the requirements it places on registrants. 

The latest quality initiative which will impact on dental care providers, promises to have a massive impact on the development of whole team professionalism, that being Care Quality Commission registration.  Beginning from April 2010, the CQC introduced a new registration system for all providers of health and social care. This new quality management system which includes all dental providers will be complete by April 2011 and means that in addition to standards set by professional bodies, dental practices now need to observe a set of 28 standards that outline the ideal outcome patients should experience when using a service set out in the CQC’s Essential standards of quality and safety.