It’s probably fair to say that most Dental Nurses have heard some grumblings about the CQC from either the Dentists they work with or their Practice Manager. It may have even been you getting frustrated- a lot of dental nurses have been landed with the mammoth task of preparing their practice for registration.
According to an article published on Dentistry.co.uk, an influential parliamentary committee has “slammed” the CQC and claimed it is poorly
governed and led. These claims arise as inspectors are being revealed to be quite unaware of the dental industry and therefore, not really clued up on what they should be looking out for. Most inspectors have allegedly come from care homes and hospital backgrounds, which are obviously different environments to dental practices, with their own risks and hazards. A snippet of the MP’s report described that “'we received evidence that inspectors have not been given enough training and support to understand fully what constitutes good quality care in sectors where they have no experience.”
Slightly worrying given the fact that a huge number of dental practices are at risk of either temporarily shutting down or permanently closing due to the difficulty in meeting some of the CQC’s demands.
Claims that the CQC are too “administration-based” have been circling for a while and this has also been brought up in Parliament. Another voice in Parliament was that of Peter Walsh, who, representing the patient safety charity, Action against Medical Accidents, told MPs: 'We don't think the CQC is fully fit for purpose at the moment. It has an unwillingness to act pro-actively to protect patients or service users.'
The CQC claim to “play an absolutely vital role in protecting people from poor quality or unsafe care” but are we really the sector that ought to be struggling under the weight of pressure caused by the seemingly more and more concerning body that is the CQC?
Or, should we not be recognized as one of the safest medical environments to be in, as shown by studies and be left alone to carry on under the guidance of the GDC?
Only time will tell.
Read the full article at Dentistry.co.uk
