The winner of the Schülke Infection Prevention Team of the Year 2016 was announced at the BDIA Dental Showcase last month – and Church Court Dental Practice in Dumfries scooped the title. The award was designed to recognise and reward the dental practice with the highest commitment to best practice in infection prevention and control. The team received their trophy and certificates on the George Warman Publications stand at the three-day event held in ExCel, London.

Competition judge, Professor Andrew Smith of the University of Glasgow Dental School, made the presentation. The award was developed by schülke in partnership with Dental Nursing's sister magazine, The Dentist. We spoke to practice principal Mark Colwell about the secret of his team's success…

The award recognises and rewards you for you and your team's ongoing commitment to infection prevention and control. How does your practice demonstrate this?

Put simply, all the little things that make up the big picture. IP&C processes and protocols are central to every practice and it would be difficult to think of any other field that encapsulates the fundamentals at the heart of the practice in the same way and as completely. They involve all of us, throughout every working day. They are inseparable from safety and risk management consideration.

If that were not enough, there is also the essential need to embrace change and any ongoing development that, in itself, calls for reflection and the capability to manage and sustain improvement.

Adding the importance of attention to detail and a consideration of human factors (both beneficial and detrimental) on top of all that means there is no single or simple way to demonstrate the depth of what is genuinely involved. So, it may be the cumulative effect of many different, sometimes very small, elements that really matter.

For example, informal and formal group/practice meetings, records of experience, attending lectures, in practice training, peer review, informal discussion, clinical audit, CPD records, group reflection, taking part in relevant accreditation and development programmes such as Denplan Excel, and involvement in relevant activities, like the Scottish Patient Safety Programme. Over and above that baseline the practice can demonstrate:

1. Record of incremental collaborative development

Around 12 years ago, the first tentative steps were taken to set up a dynamic and collaborative decontamination ‘working guide’ to manage change and risk. Starting with a single surgery the approach has extended throughout the practice and has developed to encompass other fields, processes and systems.

In essence it has allowed the practice to be able to demonstrate incremental and tangible collaborative development of IP&C processes over a continuing extended period.

2. Record of use of improvement methodology

More recently, over the last couple of years especially, the practice has embraced improvement methodology and the science behind it.

What lies at the heart of your practice?

Probably key individuals who each bring something different to the practice but share the belief that it is group understanding behind our IP&C, and patient safety in general, that really matters.

They also share the ability to recognise the importance of human factors and a capability to communicate that understanding, enabling the practice's approach to become something genuinely tangible and accessible.

How do you create the ‘perfect’ team?

An impossible dream, but being able to engage with individuals to realise potential in an imperfect world, probably sits nearer the mark. It may be, however, that an awareness of human factors, both flaws and qualities and a recognition they may be both beneficial and detrimental, is central to the safety and risk management aspects of IP&C.

You too can be a winner!

We will be launching the 2017 Infection Prevention awards shortly – and next year there will also be a NSK autoclave up for grabs as part of the winner's prize. Look out for details coming shortly…

Author: MA Healthcare