Guidance on safeguarding in general dental practice
Public Health England (PHE) has published ‘Safeguarding in general dental practice: a toolkit for dental teams’. Dental teams have a statutory duty of care to all patients, which includes ensuring that safeguarding arrangements are in place. This document reinforces the importance of safeguarding to dental teams and makes them aware of the different forms of abuse.
The guidance:
- clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the dental team
- signposts to 'useful safeguarding resources'
- provides guidance on training requirements.
It is recommended that:
- each dental practice has a named safeguarding practice lead
- all members of staff (clinical and non-clinical) undertake the appropriate level of safeguarding training
- there is a safeguarding reporting system in place and staff are familiar with this
- all members of staff know how to access the NHS Safeguarding app for local safeguarding contact details.
Published