The Dental Defence Union (DDU) is warning that the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) new plans for inspecting healthcare providers risk leaving both dental services and inspectors without appropriate guidance.
In its recent submission to the CQC’s consultation on the proposed assessment frameworks, the DDU highlights that the lack of a dedicated framework for dental providers fails to reflect the distinct way dental services operate.
It’s concerned that dental providers may struggle to demonstrate how they meet expectations within a framework which hasn’t been designed for them, particularly in areas such as addressing inequalities in care.
Under the proposals, which include four new ‘sector specific assessment frameworks’, the absence of an oral health framework means dental providers would be included in the primary care and community services framework. They would be assessed against the same criteria as GP surgeries and other community services. The DDU highlights that dental providers operate quite differently to other primary healthcare providers, but the proposals fail to recognise this.
For example, the DDU highlighted that elements of the proposed assessment criteria – such as end-of-life care and ratings – have limited relevance to dental settings. There is also a lack of recognition of how dental practices are funded and operate.
The DDU is calling on the CQC to work with the dental profession to develop a tailored assessment framework that better reflects the realities of oral healthcare delivery and supports both providers and inspectors in improving patient outcomes.
Commenting on the consultation, Simon Kidd, Head of the Dental Defence Union, said: “While we support the CQC’s intention to introduce sector-specific assessment frameworks, it’s disappointing that oral healthcare hasn’t been given the same consideration. Dental services operate in a very different way to other parts of primary care, and this needs to be reflected in how they are regulated.
“We’re concerned that dental providers could be left trying to interpret frameworks that weren’t designed with them in mind, including areas that are simply not relevant to dental care.
“Without a dedicated framework, there’s a real risk that dental providers will feel left in the dark about what’s expected of them, making it harder to engage meaningfully with the CQC.
“We would strongly urge the CQC to develop a framework specifically for oral health services to ensure inspections are fair, relevant and effective.”
