Regulation 'out of control' warns Dental Protection

Dental Protection reports an unprecedented demand for its advisory services. Its team of 48 dento-legal advisers has opened 3,700 new case files since the start of the year, as well as responding to almost 10,000 helpline calls over the same period.

Prominent within this additional workload are concerns about the rapid proliferation of guidelines, governance, scrutiny and accountability from many quarters, and the time and costs involved. HTM 01-05, PCT/LHB practice inspections, HIW registration and inspections in Wales, and the fast-approaching Care Quality Commission registration are all part of today's increasingly onerous compliance demands, and GDC revalidation is not that far away.

In calling for more reasonable and proportional regulation of the dental healthcare environment, Kevin Lewis the Director of Dental Protection said:

"The controls are out of control. There is a widespread feeling in the profession - and a growing sense of anger and frustration - that there are too many hoops for practitioners to jump through, often resulting in a duplication of effort and with no real justification in most cases. The evidence base for many of these new requirements being imposed upon dental practices is sketchy or non-existent. We desperately need a more balanced, logical and measured approach whereby any additional layers of governance are scientifically based and targeted where they are justified and most needed, rather than being applied across the board. The current environment is wasting the time, energy and money of many practitioners who are already doing an excellent job for their patients.

At a time when the new Government is proposing that high-performing schools should be inspected lessAt less often and freed from unjustified bureaucracy, the current excesses in the regulation of dental health professionals are impacting upon morale, deflecting effort and resources and ultimately not serving the best interests of patients. Now that many NHS practices are effectively operating on fixed incomes, any unnecessary expenditure in one area may need to be funded by cutting back on more constructive expenditure elsewhere."

Media contact
David Croser
Dental Protection
33 Cavendish Square
London W1G 0PS
T 020 7399 1397 E david.croser@mps.org.uk