Hartley’s Journey to BDA Approval

At Hartley Dental, the team are always looking for ways to improve the service that we offer to our customers, whatever that might be. We're also always wrestling with ways in which we can actively demonstrate how safe, effective and patient led our services really are when it comes to treating our patients.This led us to consider, if there was any type of accreditation or good practice scheme to which we could gain access, in order to help us demonstrate and make a show of what we believe are the excellent levels of all around service we offer? Who could offer this kind of recognised and official ratification? Then we had our (small) Eureka moment - The British Dental Association (BDA), we are a paid and displayed member… will they be able to help us? A quick bit of login later and yes (obviously!) they could help us - The BDA, “Good Practice Scheme.”The process started by us having to complete a ‘self assessment’ document, to see how we measured up against the standards set by the BDA to gain the accreditation. This was a comprehensive look at virtually every aspect of the Practice operation, including (but certainly not limited to):

• That we meet General Dental Council regulations,
• Infection control policies and procedures,
• Oral Cancer screening is carried out with every patient on a regular basis e.g. during their healthy mouth review,
• Regular team and clinical meetings are held to share best practice, discuss relevant topics and take any necessary remedial action,
• Recruitment policies - recruiting the appropriately qualified and desirable people,
• Patient information policies,
• Complaints policy and procedures,
• Practice audits - measuring how we assess the levels of service we offer e.g. customer satisfaction surveys,
• Evidence that we put patients needs first,
• A robust confidentiality/data protection policy within the Practice.

All in all there are 123 questions in the self assessment, which all ask for evidence of compliance - WOW, we need to be really good to get this accreditation!It took a while and some real focus, but we were satisfied that we met all the criteria in the self assessment - so what now? Well we entered into the big league and submitted our assessment and documents for approval, it was time to cross our fingers!Two weeks later we were absolutely delighted to hear that we had been approved and had gained the BDA Good Practice Scheme accreditation! This was a great reflection on all the hard work the Hartley team put in on a daily basis - making sure our customers/patients are at the centre of everything we do!So What Does Our Accreditation Mean For You?Well, Hartley Dental is now one of only three Dentists in the whole of Plymouth to have this accreditation, which means we can consider ourselves a premier provider of Oral Health services for the Plymouth area.The Good Practice Scheme re-enforces the following commitments to you - our patients:

• We aim to provide Dental Care of consistently good quality,
• We will work with you to provide care that meets your needs and wishes,
• We aim to make your treatment comfortable and convenient,
• We will check for mouth cancer and tell you what we find,
• We will look after your general health and safety,
• We follow current infection control standards,
• We keep our skills and knowledge up to date,
• We monitor the quality of our services to identify opportunities for improvements.

These commitments further re-enforce our totally patient led approach and our core ethos of, “Treating You The Right way!”