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Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

News the Government is planning to slash health and safety red tape for small business as early as January has been wel- comed by the Forum of Private Business. Employment Minister Chris Grayling announced this morn- ing that Government will begin immediately with a wholesale revamp of UK health and safety legislation – binning more than half the rules and regulations currently in force over a three- year period. He also signalled a ‘sooner rather than later’ approach, with the first rules removed from the statute book within a few months. From 1 January he also an- nounced a new ‘challenge panel’, allowing businesses to get the decisions of health and safety in- spectors overturned immediately if they have got it wrong. The announcement follows today’s publication of the Löf- stedt Review into health and safety legislation, commissioned by the Employment Minister in March. It recommends health and safety law should not apply to self-employed people whose work activity poses no potential risk of harm to others. If im- plemented, the changes would benefit around a million self-em- ployed people. Health and safety regulations will also be reduced through combining, simplifying and re- ducing the approximately 200 existing regulations. The report also makes recommendations to ensure that employers are not held responsible for damages when they have done all they can to manage risks. The Forum’s Senior Policy Adviser, Alex Jackman, said: “We have waited a while for the re- sults of the Löfstedt review, and now they are here we’re not dis- appointed. “There are recommendations that will see a tangible differ- ence to the shop floor, but also a wider acknowledgement for the needs of health and safety to be a shared burden with staff as well as employers. “The Forum of Private Busi- ness has long been calling for such a shared responsibility and welcomes this first step in a na- tional debate. “Civil action against busi- nesses is a huge issue for our members, and many over-com- pensate where health and safety is concerned. Not only does this unduly raise the cost of compli- ance – disproportionately so for the smallest businesses – but it also raises the expectations of employees should personal in- jury unfortunately befall them. “We welcome moves to re- dress the imbalance we currently have where employers can be successfully prosecuted despite having taken all reasonable steps to protect their employees. “Finally, at a European level, the report identifies the need to engage early with Europe on health and safety issues. Whilst this is hardly an earth- shattering new conclusion, the planned 2013 EU review of health and safety makes it essen- tial,” he added. Earlier this year Forum re- search found small firms in- creasingly spending extra time and money on complying with employment legislation. The study carried out with members suggests the cost of compliance is a staggering £16.8 billion – or £14,200 per firm on average. “Complying with health and safety regulations has become a serious burden for business and a major barrier to growth,” add- ed Mr Jackman. “That this Government is fi- nally taking action to streamline and improve the system is bril- liant news for SMEs who have for too long been drowning under a sea of needless rules and regula- tions that were ineffectual and over bureaucratic. “Common sense should be at the heart of all health and safety legislation and today appearstoheraldthebeginningof the end for pointless red tape. This should save employers money and make for a fairer, fit- for-purpose system with an em- phasis on personal responsibility. “Moving forward, we wish to see these proposals imple- mented as soon as possible, taking into account the current progression of impacting work in other areas of Government, notable changes to the Local Better Regulation Office and reforms of ‘no win no fee’ agreements. “Many businesses have positive views of the benefits of health and safety, but the propos- als today will, once implemented, go some way towards reducing the wider perception that small businesses have on health and safety and make it harder to liti- gate when employers are not at fault.” DT Businesses say goodbye to health and safety rules A report by the National Audit Office has suggested that the CQC has “struggled” since its creation two years ago, with only 47 per cent of planned reviews carried out between October 2012 and April this year. According to the BBC, the report states that it has been a “challenging period” for the regulator, with disruption, mistrust and confusion for both the public and healthcare providers; however, the regu- lator is now believed to be “on track”. In its report the NAO stated that the registration process failed to “go smoothly” and re- cruitment constraints caused staffing problems. In conclusion the NAO de- cided that the CQC had so far failed to achieve value for money, with both the Depart- ment of Health and the CQC to blame. Publishing this latest re- port, Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, was quoted in a BBC report: “Against a backdrop of considerable upheaval, the CQC has had an uphill struggle to carry out its work effectively and has experienced serious difficulties. “It is welcome that it is now taking action to improve its performance. “There is a gap between what the public and provid- ers expect of the Care Quality Commission and what it can achieve as a regulator. The commission and the Depart- ment of Health should make clear what successful regu- lation of this critical sector would look like.” CQC chief executive Cyn- thia Bower was quoted say- ing: “Not everything has gone smoothly, but we have learned, reviewed what we do and made changes. “We are a young organisa- tion and we are still evolving - but I firmly believe that we are making real progress.” A Department of Health spokesman said it was cur- rently reviewing the CQC; it was further reported that the findings of its review would be published in 2012. In the BBC report Mar- garet Hodge, chair of the House of Commons public ac- counts committee, said on the NAO report: “The findings are deeply worrying and high- light significant failures that put patient care at risk. “There has been too much focus on box-ticking and not enough on crossing the threshold and assuring the quality of care.” DT Care regulator ‘struggled to deliver’ HIV diagnosis and continued to practice, working in an area of London that has some of the highest HIV rates in the UK. I did this because I knew that I did not pose a risk to my patients and I wanted to con- tinue to provide the excellent standard of care and dental treatment that I always had. I also did not want my own life completely ruined by what was, in fact a pretty simple diagnosis of an increasing common, but easily treatable viral condition. “By this proposed change in policy at last, I now feel completely vindicated in how I handled my own diagnosis and in my decision to contin- ue to practice. This change in policy is the first step for me and dentist like me who had to endure what I went through to claim back our dignity and professional lives.” Chairman of the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS, Pro- fessor Brian Gazzard said: “I welcome this consultation. Our careful review of the evi- dence suggests that the cur- rent restrictions on healthcare workers with HIV are now out of step with evidence about the minimal risk of transmis- sion of infection to patients and policies in most other countries. “This risk can be reduced even further if the health- care worker is taking effec- tive drug therapy for HIV and being monitored by HIV and occupational health specialists.” Sir Nick Partridge, Chief Executive of HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Hig- gins Trust, said: “It’s right to review these restrictions in the light of modern evi- dence…We know far more now about HIV and its trans- mission than we did when these rules were made.” Dental Protection also welcomed the announce- ment. Kevin Lewis, Dental Director said in statement: “The introduction of effective antiretroviral therapy in the 1990s combined with the ab- sence of any proven trans- mission in the dental set- ting makes it totally unfair to continue to force members of the dental team to quit their chosen profession. Apart from the huge financial and personal consequences, these skilled clinicians are removed from the workforce that cur- rently struggles to provide sufficient access to den- tal care for the growing UK population. “The changes to the regu- lations proposed by the De- partment of Health are a logi- cal step that restores fairness for these members of the den- tal profession as well as safely managing the dental needs of the population.” The consultation in- vites views from the medical community as well as the pub- lic on whether current restric- tions should be maintained or how the expert group’s findings could be implement- ed effectively. The consulta- tion runs until 9 March 2012. Visit http://www.dh.gov.uk/ en/Consultations/Liveconsul- tations/DH_131532 DT December 12-18, 20112 News United Kingdom Edition page 1DTß