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With Christmas on the way, this month Decon Pete discusses everything you need to do before you close your practice. Christmas time will soon be upon us, and it will be a chance for us to spend some quality time with friends and families. As Christmas day falls on a Sunday this year, there is…
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This month Decon Pete discusses the best methods to maintain DUWLs and prevent risks of biofilm formation. I get asked a lot of questions from practices around the subject of dental unit water lines (DUWLs) and the best way of maintaining them. Water quality, within dentistry, is an extremely important element that needs to be…
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With less than one month to go until the implementation date on 4 November, Decon Pete asks: are you National Standards of Cleanliness (NSC) ready? In April 2021 NHS England published the National Standards of Cleanliness 2021. This superseded the national specifications for cleanliness 2007. The publication applies to all healthcare settings, including primary care…
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Are you NSC ready? This month, Decon Pete explains everything you need to know about the upcoming implementation date for all healthcare settings, including what you must complete. With only two months to go until the implementation date of Friday 4 November, are you National Standards of Cleanliness (NSC) ready? In April 2021, NHS England…
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IPC standards are crucial for patient and staff safety, but sometimes they can be overlooked on a busy day. This month, Decon Pete breaks down the basics of IPC and the importance of monitoring it. The day to day lives of all members of the dental team can be extremely hectic. Sometimes it can be easy…
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This month Decon Pete discusses the importance of nominating a decontamination lead for the safety and smooth day-to-day runnings of your practice. Whether you are setting up a new practice or owning an existing one, it’s incredibly important that you have a nominated decontamination lead. Sometimes this is often overlooked and, from my experience, also…
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In the last part of his squat practice series, Decon Pete shares the final things you need to consider when setting one up. I wanted to take a look at some of the other things that we need to consider in this final part of setting up a squat practice We’ve set up our LDU.…
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Decon Pete shares the most important squat practice equipment to purchase, such as washer disinfectors and autoclaves. This month I wanted to take a look at the exact equipment that you will require for your squat practice to be compliant. Last month we started to look at things to consider when setting up a squat…
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Decon Pete discusses things to consider when you’re setting up a new squat practice and where to place your local decontamination unit. I’m asked many times about what is required when setting up a new squat practice. Or what to consider when carrying out any major refurbishment work in an existing practice. Whichever it is…
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Decon Pete gives a further update on the National Standards of Cleanliness document and exactly what practices will need to do. Last month we discussed the new National Standards of Cleanliness document. This will come into effect in April 2022. This month I would like to discuss what it requires practices to do and some…
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Decon Pete speaks to us about the NHS National Standards of Cleanliness 2021 and explains what it means in practise for dentistry. In April 2021 NHS England published the National Standards of Cleanliness 2021. This supersedes the National Specifications for Cleanliness 2007. The publication applies to all healthcare settings, including primary care dental. It is…
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Decon Pete suggests ways to easily improve decontamination efficiency and save time and work for you dental team. With the CDO for England announcing that NHS dentists are obliged to meet 85% of their pre-Covid targets from 1 January 2022, what can we do to help improve our IP efficiency and save some time along…
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Decon Pete covers the updated SOP guidance and explains what the changes actually mean for dental practices. The UK Health Security Agency have issued new standard operating procedures (SOPs), on 24 November, for infection prevention and control for seasonal respiratory infections in health care settings. The new guidance supersedes the previous UK IPC COVID-19 for…
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Decon Pete covers the role dental nurses play in disinfection and decontamination and explains why constant updates and training is so important. With the responsibility for the implementation of infection control policies falling largely on the shoulders of dental nurses, it is vital that they are fully aware of the appropriate local guidelines, understand how…
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Decon Pete reveals all on RO water and the key considerations involved when choosing a unit. In the past couple of months I have discussed the importance of water quality, within our practice, and the associated pathogens. In this final part I wanted to discuss RO water and the things we should consider before purchasing…
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With a rise in legionella deaths as services restart, Pete Gibbons explains how dental practices can safely reopen. In last month’s article I discussed the importance of water quality and the potential risks of legionella. There have been several incidences, lately, that have featured in various media forms detailing outbreaks of this potentially life-threatening decease. A…
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This month Decon Pete discusses legionella formation and things to consider when reopening dental surgeries. Water quality, within dentistry, is an extremely important element that needs maintaining to reduce any potential pathogen risk. In particular legionella pneumophila. Dental practices have, for some time now, not been operating at full capacity. With many utilising additional surgeries…
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Decon Pete explains how to ensure you are meeting UK guidance requirements with your ultrasonic cleaners and what records to keep for the CQC. Firstly, let’s clarify the difference between testing and validation. Validation is a way of confirming that decontamination equipment is working in the way the manufacturer intends. Validation also demonstrates that the…
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With confusing and subjective guidance on decontamination in dentistry, Decon Pete tries to clarify how practices can interpret the documents. The UK guidance documents relating to decontamination within primary care dentistry have been with us since 2004, with the SDCEP document, then HTM01-05 in 2009 and WHTM01-05 in 2010. These documents are all underwritten by…
