DENTAL ADVISOR

Personal and Professional Effectiveness as A Dental Advisor

Personal and Professional Effectiveness as A Dental Advisor

Introduction

A number of concerns have been raised at City Z PCT for the GDS contract held by Tooth Fairy Dental Practice. Tooth Fairy Dental Practice is located in a converted former residential property within a deprived ward serving a diverse ethnic population. All the current practice facilities are on the ground floor. The provider Dr John Fairy is 58 yrs old and has been the principle dentist at the practice for 30 yrs. There is also a performer Dr Rodriguez Zapadrilo aged 25 yrs originally from Portugal. (Covey, 1999, pp. 68-71)

The clinical records are paper based with the use of FP25 folders. Claims to the BSA are submitted electronically via a computer situated behind the reception area, with the senior receptionist inputting the data from the FP25 folders.

The vital signs for the practice show it to be an outlier in several areas, but specifically on the recalls for zero to three months, for a second consecutive year. (Metcalfe, 1998, pp. 35-44)

The practice is currently underperforming, with BSA data revealing a large number of multiple claims for band 2 and band 3 treatments, mainly assigned to the performer. A recent CPA clinical records check report highlighted a large number of erroneous claims and recording errors, with specific mention of composite inlays and their subsequent remakes.

A PCT wide audit to bench mark and establish compliance to the essential standards of HTM 01 -05, resulted in the practice being a subject of an urgent review of its decontamination procedures, which were subsequently corrected. The role of the Dental Advisor is pivotal in reviewing the concerns surrounding the practice, and establishing a clear understanding of causative factors with a view to advising the Dental contracts manager who will than formulate a course of action that will effect a resolution. (Atwater, 1996, pp. 44-55)

It is important to understand that Dr Fairy has been practising Dentistry for over 3 decades and therefore he has a wealth of experience, however Dentistry and the practice patient base has undergone a lot of change in that timeframe, Dr Fairy may not have been able to match the pace of the changing Dental landscape and the population within his ward.

The young Portuguese dentist Dr Zapadrilo has been a recent performer at the practice and whilst he has undergone competency evaluation, the recent CPA report has highlighted serious concerns with regards the standard of record keeping, inappropriately large number of multiple claims, and the need for further investigation in order to establish whether there is a service provision or clinical context which could explain some of the patterns observed. (Metcalfe, 1998, pp. 35-44)

The practice vital signs shows it to be an outlier, especially with regards to Nice recall guidance, and this despite a discussion at last year's, yearend review with regards the three month recalls. The BSA data revealed a large number of erroneous claims and therefore a detailed review of the practice procedures with ...