Decontamination in primary care dental practices - Gov.uk

Executive summaryPreambleThis document forms part of the Health TechnicalMemorandum 01 Decontamination series. Other partsinclude:• Choice Framework for local Policy and Procedures01-01:Management and decontamination of surgicalinstruments (medical devices) used in acute care• Health Technical Memorandum 01-02:Decontamination in laboratories• Health Technical Memorandum 01-03:Decontamination in pharmacies• Choice Framework for local Policy and Procedures01-04: Decontamination of linen for health and socialcare• Choice Framework for local Policy and Procedures01-06: Decontamination of flexible endoscopes• Health Technical Memorandum 01-07:Decontamination in primary care NHS trusts.StructureThis document includes the following three sections:• Section 1: Decontamination policy and foreword• Section 2: Advice to dentists and practice staff (localdecontamination)• Section 3: Engineering, technology and standards.Aim of the guidanceHealth Technical Memorandum 01-05 is intendedto progressively raise the quality of decontaminationwork in primary care dental services by covering thedecontamination of reusable instruments within dentalfacilities.Who should use this guidance?Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 will be of interestto all staff involved in decontamination in primary caredental services.It is intended to be used, or referred to, by all members ofa dental team providing primary care dental services (thatis, dentists and support staff as well as engineering staffproviding services in key areas).Reference to other parts of the Choice Framework forlocal Policy and Procedures 01 series may be necessary(on a limited basis only).2013 edition of Health TechnicalMemorandum 01-05This section does not give an exhaustive list of theamendments made to the 2009 edition but rathersummarises the rationale behind this new edition, inparticular the main policy changes.This 2013 edition of Health Technical Memorandum01-05 reflects the consensus on patient safety in the areaof storage of dental instruments. Consequently, thisreview of the guidance on storage times (in particular, seeparagraphs 2.4k, 4.22 and 4.26–4.27) has been carriedout in advance of the planned revision of HealthTechnical Memorandum 01-05.It is recognised that potentially infectiousrecontamination of sterilized dental instruments is eventrelatedrather than time-dependent. Within dentalpractices, there is a rapid turnaround of the mostregularly used dental instruments. The 2009 edition wasnot helpful in the management of these frequently usedinstruments.The rationale for this change is that these dentalinstruments are used in contaminated body areas. Anyenvironmental contamination that takes place wouldhave a minimal impact on patient safety compared withcontamination with another patient’s blood or bodyfluid, which would be a significant hazard to patients.Thus, the emphasis is on ensuring effectivedecontamination and preventing contamination withanother patient’s blood and body fluid rather than onpreventing environmental contamination of sterilizedinstruments.The guidance document has also been updated to reflectthe changes to the NHS infrastructure following theHealth and Social Care Act 2012.vii