Welcome

Welcome to the QCS Dental Management page, where we will take you through a management system designed to not only help you meet CQC compliance, but to also ensure that you have direction in meeting the needs of all your practice patients. As with all QCS management systems you can expect to find support when you require it and continuous development, so that the latest learning is incorporated into new policies by our expert contributors.

About the System

The overall aim of the management system is to take each key area of Dental Management and then distil it into all the policies and procedures you’ll ever need to manage your Dental Practice efficiently and achieve/maintain CQC compliance. Whilst our predominant focus is always on CQC compliance, we aim to assist you via our management system, to run your practice as effectively as possible. Online and in paper format, via our easy to use hardcopy folders, we provide continuous updates so that you are kept abreast of any important changes both within the regulated environment and within best practice. In an era of bureaucracy and red-tape, QCS strives to make compliance activity quicker, smarter and simpler.

History

The QCS System was created in the late 1980s, when it was initially a paper packet of core policies and procedures. As most adult social care professionals will recognise, the regulation of this sector has increased immensely since that time, with standards improved considerably. Consequently the QCS product has evolved over the years to reflect the changes in regulatory requirements and the different needs of each care service. We work very closely with our customers, or if there is a document you need that you can’t find in the system, or you feel would make a great addition to it, then get in touch with our Customer Care team and they will help you to either locate it, or they will work with one of our expert contributors to have it created.

Making the system easily navigable and reflective of the latest changes is what we do best. In the second half of 2011 alone, we’ve added 2 major toolkits and half a dozen new features to the online system to make it even more interactive for you. A more interactive system means you have more tools available to stay compliant, whether it’s assigning reading lists, uploading your own customized documents or reading alerts about important policy changes which must be implemented in your care service. We have also extended the service to provide management systems to the dental profession and very shortly to general practitioners (GPs).

Dentistry

Since the 1st April 2011 all providers or primary dental care have been required under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to not only be registered with the Care Quality Commission, but to also comply with the provisions of the Act ensuring that the “Essential Standards of Quality and Safety” are always being complied with.

Unlike the adult social care profession who have been used to CQC regulation (and its predecessors) for some time now, we recognise that this change has been challenging for the dental profession, who are also scrutinised by other regulatory bodies. To assist with compliance against the essential standards, we have created a dental management system which takes the onerous nature out of what is required of the practice manager or the lead dentist.

With over 200 policies and procedures in place already, we have provided dental practices with all the essentials they require in order to meet CQC standards. To date there have been very few inspections, but within the next 2 years each and every dental practice will be inspected by the CQC, so it is imperative to ensure that you have the right systems in place prior to this happening.

Our dental management is supported by a leading dental expert who is continually reviewing best practice, plus any regulatory changes. You can also confidently expect to see further development still to our guide to clinical governance as well as a mock inspection toolkit to help you get prepared for the inevitable inspection.

The CQC

The Care Quality Commission is the regulatory body in England for Health and Adult Social Care Professionals. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 came into force on the 1st October 2010, requiring all existing and new English Care Providers to comply with The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 and the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. For the dental profession, registration with the CQC and adherence to their outcomes came into effect as of the 1st April 2011.

The CQC’s business plan states their five priorities as:

1. Making Sure that care is centred on people’s needs and protects their rights
2. Championing joined-up care
3. Acting swiftly to help eliminate poor quality care
4. Promoting high quality care
5. Regulating effectively, in partnership

In order to register, the Dental Provider must complete a declaration as to whether their service meets the 16 CQC Outcomes of the ‘Essential standards of Quality and Safety’ which are required by the new Regulations.

Explaining Regulated Activities

The Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulation 2010 details 15 regulated activities, from which a dental provider must select those regulated activities which are being carried on.

In practice a dental provider is likely to be required to register for only three of the regulated activities. These are:

1. Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
2. Surgical procedures
3. Diagnostic and screening procedures

Should there be any possibility that a dental provider may need to register for further regulated activities, then advice can be sought from the CQC under their ‘scope of registration’

Types of Service Providers

There are three types of service provider: Organisations; Individuals; and Partnerships. When completing the registration application you need to define which of the three best describes your business. For ease of reference, limited companies and dental bodies corporate will be defined as ‘organisations’. ‘Individuals’ are those dentists who operate in what is often referred to as single-handed practices. Should however, a dentist be operating in an expense-sharing relationship/partnership, then further clarification on whether they ought to register as an ‘individual’ must be sought from the CQC. Partnership registrations must only be made where the partnership has joint and several liability.