Provide Secure Dental

Introduction .

In Dental Practice, the staffs and the dental professionals along with the managers have the duty to ensure proper health and safety is followed in managing health and welfare of the employees as well as the service users. In this aspect, in the assignment, the meaning of compliance and role along with responsibilities of the dental managers are to be identified. The need for risk assessment and the way it is to be executed in dental environment is also to be discussed. Further, the type of training to be offered to the dental staffs for complying with legislation is to be explained.

Task 1: Explaining meaning of compliance and roles along with responsibilities for dental practice managers in the dental surgery

The meaning of compliance is referred to following a rule or command regarding any activity (Bobich and Mitchell, 2017). The Care Quality Commission (CQC) standards mention that welfare for the patients along with safe working environment for the support staffs are to be looked after by the dental practice manager. This means that dental practice managers are to comply with the implication of rules of continuous assessment of health and safety for the work environment and equipment along with allow training of staffs regarding basic safety and risk management at the workplace (cqc.org.uk, 2020). It is to ensure a positive work environment for the support staffs and safe environment for the patients to avail care. The responsibilities of dental practice manager include designing and establishing an agreed administrative plan to assist in delivering and implementing all nature of dental services for the patients so that maximum contribution is made to gain profit regarding the practice (Leggatt, 2018). This is because effective care to the patients in dental care would make them feel satisfied with the service leading them to recommend others to avail the same services, in turn, contributing to the manager to make profit in the practice. The dental practice manager (DPM) has the responsibility to frame reports for outside corporate like Inland Revenue, develop year-end accounts and manage proper banking system to determine debts, stock flow and others for finally developing an effective business plan (Rattan and Lewis, 2017). They also have the responsibility to recruit, train, inspire and discipline dental staffs who are in-line working with in-house practice policy. The DPM has the responsibility to ensure effective team management at work and requires establishing proper appraisal system for the employees (Theile et al. 2016). The role of the DPM is to ensure proper adaptation to changing circumstances in the dental practice so that they can ensure successful and updated operation of care which is in accordance to the current perception and needs of the service users (aspd.co.uk, 2019). This is because such changing attitude is going to help DPM in meeting the upgraded needs of the patients as well as develop care practices which comply with the updated care system in the dental environment leading to deliver quality and satisfied services. The role of the DPM is to develop open communication with the dental staffs and professionals so that each of them has proper understanding of the aims to be covered through their care delivery (Leggatt, 2018).

Task 2: Explaining the reason and way of executing risk assessment in dental practice. Developing plan in the dental surgery to analyse the hazards and way to control them

The risks assessment in dental practice is required to be performed so that any hazards or risk can be identified for which proper implication of measures is to be done for ensuring their control. The meeting of the needs through risk assessment is going to help in preventing any harm to the patients or staffs (Simmons et al. 2016). Thus, risk assessment in dental practice is important to ensure a hazard and risk-free working environment. The risk assessment in dental practice is need as it lowers chances of accidents and negative incidents at the workplace. This is because through the assessment risks are identified which are informed to the staffs making them aware regarding the way to work to avoid facing hazards or creating negative incidents at work (dawleydental.co.uk, 2018). In dental practice, where there are more than five staffs risk assessment is regarded as legal requirement to be established (dawleydental.co.uk, 2018). In order to execute risk assessment in dental practice, at the first the staffs who are probable to be affected by any form of risk due to their role at the workplace like chemical management, exposure to radiation, infection control, managing sharp implements and others are to be identified (bda.org, 2019). This is because it would help to determine which staffs are vulnerable to risk and needs immediate protection. In executing risk assessment, the experience and age of the staffs are to be identified (bda.org, 2019). This is because aged staffs are found to be more vulnerable to risk as a result of their lower physical efficiency due to elderly condition at the workplace. Moreover, inexperienced staffs are found to have less knowledge and skills to act effectively to avoid risk. Thus, the identification of them at the risk assessment is needed so that training to be provided and protection to be offered to the aged staffs can be identified to ensure effective management. The risk assessment is to identify workers who have lower literacy skills in the workplace (bda.org, 2019). This is because staffs with less education are unable to read and understand the risk management policies they are to follow in turn putting themselves to be at risk while at work. In executing risk assessment in dental practice, nature of patients such as pregnant, young, old and others attending for care in the environment are to be identified (Hayes, 2012). This is because it would help to determine the related health risks which they may be facing and arrange effective strategies through the risk assessment for ensuring their quality health. In the risk assessment, the individual with disabilities visiting the dental environment is to be identified (Hayes, 2012). This is to determine the nature of safety risk they may be experiencing due to their disability, in turn, acting to resolve those hazards to ensure their effective protection. The risk assessment plan to be developed in dental surgery to look after the hazards is going to include at first entire analysis of the environment to identify the hazards and the people to be affected by it. After the risk and people to be affected by the risk are identified, the plan is to use risk matrix for prioritisation of risk according their frequency of occurrence and rate of vulnerability (bda.org, 2019). This is because most vulnerable risks are found to create grave accidents and incidents compared to the less vulnerable risks for which they immediate management at the first stage is required. After prioritisation, controls and measures to be taken are to be identified and prioritised based on the risk matrix developed. The control required to be more reliable and robust for greater risks (bda.org, 2019). In order to manage risks in dental surgery, during the risks assessment consequences and impact of long-term solution on the identified risk are to be determined (bda.org, 2019, Hayes, 2012). This is required to determine the changes to be made further in the solution for making them more reliable to actively control the risk. Moreover, it is to determine whether the long-term controls for the vulnerable risk can be implemented immediately or short-term measures are reliable management to be immediately implicated to control the risk (bda.org, 2019: Hayes, 2012). This is because risk control measures for prioritised hazards are to be immediately implemented so that any negative incidences can be avoided. Further, the outcome of the implemented risk management measures is to be determined in dental surgery and the control of the hazards is to be monitored continuously. This is to identify the changes to be made periodically as new equipment and actions are continuously been implemented in dental surgery as per the advancement of the medical sciences making new risks to be raised progressively that are to be controlled (bda.org, 2019). .

Task 3: Describing risk and the way it is relevant in dental practice. Explaining the key roles and responsibilities of the practice managers in controlling risks

The term risk in dental surgery is referred to any probable hazards or harm which may be caused to the support staffs or patients making them experience vulnerable situations (Chrcanovic et al. 2017). The term risk is relevant to the dental practices because wide numbers of hazards are present in the practice for the patients as well as staffs. The risk present for the patients in dental practice includes exposure to infection during dental check-ups and surgery, infection to dental materials, percutaneous exposure accidents and others (Shi et al. 2017). The risk to be faced by dentists and staffs in dental practices includes radiation exposure, exposure to infection due to cuts by sharp objects, psychological hazard of continuous work pressure, musculoskeletal disorder due to hindered posture, chemical exposure, exposure to hazardous gases and others (Kobza et al. 2018). This indicates that patients, as well as dental staffs, are equally vulnerable to face wide nature of risk in the dental care environment. In order to manage the risk, the dental practice managers under the Management of Health and Safety at the Work Regulations 1999 is provided wide number of roles and responsibilities to be fulfilled. The manager has the role to provide a written health and safety to the staffs to be followed (legislation.gov.uk, 1999). This is to make the staffs aware of the way they are to work to avoid hazards at the workplace. The managers are to assess risk of support staffs, health professionals, patients, and others who are able to be at risk in the workplace and record proper findings of the risks. They also have the responsibility to access competent advice regarding health and safety provided in the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR) and others to ensure safety in the workplace (legislation.gov.uk, 1999). The dental practice manager has the responsibility to inform employees regarding the risks to be experienced by them at the workplace and actions to be implemented t avoid them for ensuring their welfare. The managers are to inform actions taken for the protection of employees from risks by the authorities and have the role to execute supervision of the workplace along with consult with staffs regarding the impact of present preventive measures on controlling the risk (legislation.gov.uk, 1999). This to determine the progress of the protection provided and changes to be made to ensure better welfare and health along with safe working environment for the staffs. .

Task 4: Explaining the types of training required by the dental staffs to comply with legislation at work

In order to comply with health and safety at the workplace, the dental staffs are to be trained in the areas such as first aid, infection control, manual handling and fire safety. The dental staffs in first aid training are to be informed where the first aid kit is located, identify the first aider, know when, to whom and how to report regarding accident to get immediate access to first aid box and management of the risk. Moreover, the staffs are to be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (Roy et al. 2018; aid-training.co.uk, 2018). This training is essential because it would help dental staffs to take immediate action against any accidents to ensure protection and lower the negative impact of hazard on their health to some extent. The dental staffs are to be trained regarding fire safety where they are to be informed of evacuation procedure to be followed, arrangement to be made, numbers to call fire brigade, identify escape routes and others. In the process, the dental staffs are to be trained regarding the way to raise awareness on smoke alarm and practise fire drills (uk.dental-tribune.com, 2017). This is required because it would help the dental staff protect themselves and patients from any fire outbreak in the workplace. The dental staffs are to be provided training regarding infection control and manual handling of different types of equipment to be used in the workplace. They are to be trained regarding the way to sterilise equipment through autoclave, dispose cartridges and needles, manage radiography to avoid exposure, determine implementation and risk analysis date of equipment, operate new equipment and others (Das et al. 2018; Ezzat, 2018). This is because it would help the staffs avoid accidents due to mismanagement of equipment as well as protect themselves from exposure to infection due to contamination.

Conclusion :

The above discussion informs that compliance for dental practice manager (DPM) is following proper rules to ensure effective management and ensure health and safety of the workplace. The key roles and responsibility of the DPM are to ensure the welfare of the employees and patients. The risk assessment in dental practice is to be executed by identifying risks, determining people to be affected by the risk, taking control measures and evaluating the findings of the measures in implication. The dental staffs are to be provided training regarding first aid, infection control, manual handling and fire safety for helping them to act accordingly to comply with legislation at work.

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Reference:

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