A young therapist was about to start work in a new practice and, on the day of her interview, was invited to walk around the practice. Whilst walking around, she visited the reprocessing and sterilising room and noted that the area was not well signposted, and the testing and maintenance documentation was not regularly completed.
The therapist sought advice from Dental Protection on the extent of her responsibility for infection control procedures in the practice if she decided to work there, which in her view did not meet current standards. She wanted to know who was responsible for the infection control policy in the practice – was it solely the practice owner’s responsibility?
She was advised that each practising clinician has a duty of care to their patients. Any clinician who believes that the environment compromises patient safety and the quality of care should not treat patients until the situation has been rectified.
Any clinician who believes that the environment compromises patient safety and the quality of care has the option of declining to treat patients until the situation is rectified, or even that of leaving the practice.
In this case, however, the therapist’s enquiry and the advice she was given then led to a discussion with the owner. The owner subsequently undertook a fundamental review of the practice’s infection control in order to improve the ways in which the procedures were implemented to ensure a consistent standard of care.
Learning points
There is a legal and ethical obligation for all practitioners to comply with contemporary standards of care:
- Clinicians are individually responsible for the standard of care they provide..
- Review the infection control procedures when attending a potential practice where you may work in the future.
- Regularly review the infection control procedures at the practice.
- Ensure all new members of staff undergo the necessary training.