Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

S&Sdental services G lenys Bridges and Jane Armitage launch the Campaign for Admin- istrative Standards and Profes- sional Education for Recep- tionists and Practice Managers (CASPER) In the modern dental pro- fession there is no shortage of Standards and Regulations or authoritative bodies to as- sess and compliance. The ori- gins of the current legislation date back as far as the Dentist Act 1921, which restricted the practice of dentistry to quali- fied, registered practitioners, working within ethical stand- ards set by a regulatory body; The Dental Board for the UK, the initial forerunner of the General Dental Council (GDC) Over the 90 years since the Dentist Act 1921 the health care professions have changed considerably, so too has their relationship with the public. When dentistry was restricted in 1921 the purpose of this legislation was to pro- tect the public. In 2001 follow- ing some high profile medical cases, including the Harold Shipman, Alderhay and The Bristol Babies it was clear that to maintain public confidence higher profile measures were required and Clinical Govern- ance was introduced to the Healthcare Sector. Over the past 10 years the dental profession has intro- duced a curricular framework to enable members of the den- tal team to gain registerable qualifications and this has en- abled a range of dental profes- sionals to increase the scope of their contribution to pa- tient care. As a result careers in the dental profession have become more prestigious and attractive to a wider range of people with a vocation to work in a caring profession. Clinically dentistry can claim almost 100 years of on- going development with ex- cellence as its primary objec- tive. However, when it comes to the non clinical aspects of dental care there is a massive black hole in terms of training and ongoing development re- quirements. The Health and Social Care Act 2005 sets out clear regula- tions which in turn have been translated by each constituent country of the United Kingdom to local essential standards of quality and safety. Each has appointed inspectors to visit registered practices to assess compliance. If you look really hard you will find training rec- ommendations for Registered Managers. But not only do you need to look hard, to find any meaningful education re- quirements, you also need to use a broad span of interpre- tation because qualification requirements for Registered Managers are not definitive. Worse still the standard for administrators and reception- ists are non-existent; or at least I have not been able to find them. It is undisputable that the quality of UK clinical dentistry is world class. However, now- adays patients demand more that excellent dentistry, they will not settle for less than an excellent dental experience from the moment they de- cide to make an appointment on until they complete their treatment. This is recognised in care quality outcomes. To consist- ently achieve these outcomes requires a range of quality management skills, such as planning services, auditing performance, creating, im- plementing and evaluating SMART objectives and gath- ering feedback on clinical and non clinical aspects of care. Without formal educa- tion these skills will be absent from dental teams’ skills sets, therefore patients’ experienc- es of quality if their dental ex- perience will suffer. Jane Armitage is a high profile multi-award winning practice manager. Over re- cent months she has helped numerous practice manag- ers who are completely out of their depth with the new qual- ity management regulations. Jane says: “I believe academic training requirements must be introduced on a tiered level in-line with individual man- agers responsibilities. How can manager’s be expected to run practices without aca- demic training? It is bizarre. How can you lead a team of committed dental profession- als without demonstrating the same level of commitment to your own training and ongo- ing development? We must begin by establishing educa- tional standards and then es- tablishing how many practices managers are educated to that level. From a quality standard should this be an issue that needs addressing.” The Campaign for Admin- istrative Standards and Pro- fessional Education for Recep- tionists and Practice Managers (CASPER) has gathered high profile dental professionals who believe that qualifica- tions for practice managers and receptionists are the next logical step in the progression of the dental profession and are urging the GDC and CQC to formalise a non-clinical curricular framework. Jill Taylor, President of the Association of Dental Admin- istrators and Managers (For- merly the BDPMA) has added her support to this campaign with the following Statement “I agree that the dental pro- fession needs definitive non- clinical educational and CPD standards for dental managers and administrators.” If you would like to add your voice to ours, simply email us your name and: “I agree that the den- tal profession needs defini- tive non-clinical educational and CPD standards for dental managers and administrators” to: casper.campaign@gmail. com DT Campaign for CASPER Registration for Showcase 2012 now live! D elegates are now able to register online for their ticket to BDTA Dental Showcase, which takes place at ExCel London from 4-6 October 2012. Registration is free and can be completed easily online at www.dentalshowcase.com and you will instantly receive your e-ticket. Dental Showcase is the UK’s No.1 dental exhibition, with over 10,000 members of the dental team expected to visit the three-day event, and more than 350 companies exhibiting, pre- senting the latest products and services that the dental industry has to offer. Each year the BDTA holds an outstanding show, which is why Dental Showcase contin- ues to be the biggest and best exhibition in the dental calen- dar. Book your ticket now to ensure that you don’t miss out! For more information, or to register for your free ticket to BDTA Dental Showcase please visit www.dentalshowcase. com. DT 6 News United Kingdom Edition April 23-29, 2012