Essential documentation

Doesn’t it seem like the HTM 01-05 has been around forever? It is almost difficult to remember a life before HTM 01-05, and even more difficult to remember how a dental practice managed to clean instruments without the help of a washer-disinfector and illuminated magnifier.

Nevertheless, the HTM 01-05 has put in place a process of decontamination of re-usable dental instruments which can be tested and validated, thus providing evidence to support the process of decontamination from start to finish. 

In theory, it is a good thing the health department has issued this guidance. With the forthcoming mandatory registration with the Care Quality Commission in April 2011, the HTM 01-05 should give all dental practices a common, standardised message on what has to be done to comply with ‘essential requirements’ and what needs to be done to achieve ‘best practice’. 

The not so good thing is rather than giving clear and standardised messages, the HTM 01-05 is being perceived as confusing, ambiguous, expensive to implement, and its evidence-base is subject to hot debate.