Background and aim
In April 2021, Provider Assurance Dental (PAD) commenced the Sedation Pilot on behalf of NHSE England (NHSE) to support regional teams in the implementation of the Service Standards for Conscious Sedation in a Primary Care setting.
The initial purpose of the pilot was to support Commissioners in ensuring that the Standards in the Commissioning Guide are met. Further to this, the pilot also acted as an educational and support tool. Firstly, to raise contractors’ awareness of the Standards and their responsibility to deliver effective and safe care that is compliant with service standards. Secondly, to provide a platform whereby Providers can submit an annual declaration of compliance.
An additional benefit and objective of the pilot was to utilise the clinical expertise within PAD that goes further to assure declarations are a true and accurate reflection of the policies, processes, and standards in place within a sedation practice. Based on findings PAD could then work with partners throughout the health system to distribute best practice and guidance and coordinate with Care Quality Commission (CQC) should Commissioners require any contracts to be escalated.
What we did
We created a self-declaration form that enabled electronic completion on Compass. This also included embedding the necessary reporting requirements and access so that Commissioners could view their Contractor’s completed self-declaration forms.
The clinical expertise within PAD was utilised to assure declarations are a true and accurate reflection of the policies, processes, and standards in place within a sedation practice. Furthermore, a selection of patient records were reviewed to assure that the Sedation care provided followed safe practice.
Results
Any non-compliant contracts, either not submitting a declaration, highlighting non-compliance within their declarations, or contracts where concerns are raised following our assurance review are handled via a separate escalation route to ensure concerns are handled appropriately and timely by our clinical leads. We also raised the concerns with the appropriate commissioners.
The form was evidenced to be effective due to successful completion of the form by the confirmed contracts and minimal queries received from Contractors in terms of access and completion.
A step-by-step guidance document was established on our PAD webpage and was highlighted to all Contractors to support them in navigating Compass to complete their self-declaration submission.