Decontamination in primary care dental practices - Gov.uk

Decontamination: Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 – Decontamination in primary care dental practices (2013 edition)Northern Ireland references, equivalents andvariations• The Care Quality Commission and the HCC do nothave authority in Northern Ireland. The Departmentof Health, Social Services and Public Safety(DHSSPS) proposes to register and regulate theprivate dental sector through the Regional Qualityand Improvement Authority (RQIA). Officials fromboth organisations are progressing this work atpresent. RQIA have no plans to register the dentalsector at present, although this is subject to ongoingreview.• In November 2007, the DHSSPS issued “qualityimprovement scheme” (QIS) letters outliningpriorities for improvements at general dental practices,expecting practices to work towards these within athree-to-five-year time period.• ‘Decontamination in general dental practices -supplementary guidance’ (issued in November 2007),which includes decontamination room layouts andsterilizer and washer-disinfector model specifications,is available at www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/hea/decontamination-general-dental-practices.htm• Chief Dental Officer’s letters etc can be found atwww.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/dental/dental-whatsnew.htm• The Northern Ireland equivalent of DB 2000(04)‘Single use medical devices: implications andconsequences of reuse’ is DB 2000/04(NI) availableon the NIAIC web site: www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/hea/niaic/niaic_device_bulletins.htm• The Northern Ireland equivalent of DB 2002(06) isDB(NI)2002/06 ‘Benchtop steam sterilizers –guidance on purchase, operation and maintenance’available at www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/hea-db(ni)2002-06.pdf• The Northern Ireland equivalent of HSC 1999(178)is HSS(MD)15/99 (www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/healthprotection-cjd), and of HSC 1999(179) isHSS(MD)16/99 (www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/hssmd15-99.pdf)• • Northern Ireland legislation, policy circulars, codes ofpractice, device bulletins etc equivalent to those listedthroughout this document can be obtained from thefollowing web sites:• Ministry of Justice – the UK Statute Law Databaseprovides details of equivalent legislation across the UK(www.statutelaw.gov.uk).• The DHSSPS provides policy information includingChief Medical Officer (CMO) circulars (www.dhsspsni.gov.uk).• The Northern Ireland Adverse Incident Centreprovides access to device bulletins (DB), warningnotices etc (equivalent to MHRA publications)(www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/niaic).• The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland(HSENI) provides information on Northern Irelandhealth and safety legislation and codes of practice(www.hseni.gov.uk).• On behalf of the DHSSPS, the Estates PolicyDirectorate of Health Estates issues ProfessionalEstates Letters (PELs). These set out departmentalpolicy in relation to estates issues, including medicaldevices, non-medical equipment, buildings and plant(www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/hea/niaic/niaic_pels.htm).86