0% Finance

0% Finance

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Author: ADAM Aspire

0% Finance

Our practice uses R4 software, we are looking at offering 0% finance to patients for treatment plans incurring large costs. The finance company deduct their subsidy at source and then deposit the remainder into the practice bank account. How would you overcome allocating the full amount due to the appropriate patient finance, bearing in mind their treatment plan will show a greater amount due than is actually received?

Answer:

We use SoE but perhaps it is similar? I invented a way to show this on the system, but don't know if it is right!

When I receive the finance company statement it tells me that £x is being paid into our bank account, which I then 'pay' on the patient's account and select BACS form of payment (normally you would select CC. visa etc or cash at the rec desk) and I put a note on the payment that it is a loan payment.

The statement also tells me the -£y amount that the finance company keep (your 'interest'). I have an item of service created called 'balancing payment to loan company' which I charge through on the course of treatment with the correct interest amount as a credit to the patient (a minus on our system). These two actions then make their account in credit with the full loan amount.

I don't know how this loan credit service item affects reports used to pay providers, as I don't deal with that myself, but it must show up somewhere to be taken into account.

Answer:

We use SoE Exact but this is what we do in our practice.

In the finance part of the patient file there is an option to input opening balance/ i am not familiar with R4 but if you have the option input (- the subsidy amount) it will at first put the patient in credit, then you input the monies received from the finance company. It should tally to the full amount of the treatment and it should show that the patient is in credit until the full course of treatment is charged.

Answer:

There is an easy way to process an IFC and I’ll tell you how it’s done in my practice.

You process the payment from your IFC company as (cheque for example, that’s how I do it), this will be the amount that your patient wishes to finance minus the cost of the IFC.

Then you credit note on R4 the IFC interest so you can put your patient in credit for the full amount.

Let’s say you patient wants to finance £2000 worth of treatment. The cost will be let’s say £200.00.

You will click Till then Payment and then Cheque and take £1800.00, you will be then £1800.00 IN CREDIT.

You will then credit note another £200.00(the IFC cost) to make the £2000 in credit.

You can then complete your treatment and money will balance.

Answer:

We do a balance adjustment and put comment “finance sub” in text so that it’s clear in the accounting why balance has been adjusted.

0% Finance

Our practice uses R4 software, we are looking at offering 0% finance to patients for treatment plans incurring large costs. The finance company deduct their subsidy at source and then deposit the remainder into the practice bank account. How would you overcome allocating the full amount due to the appropriate patient finance, bearing in mind their treatment plan will show a greater amount due than is actually received?

Answer:

We use SoE but perhaps it is similar? I invented a way to show this on the system, but don't know if it is right!

When I receive the finance company statement it tells me that £x is being paid into our bank account, which I then 'pay' on the patient's account and select BACS form of payment (normally you would select CC. visa etc or cash at the rec desk) and I put a note on the payment that it is a loan payment.

The statement also tells me the -£y amount that the finance company keep (your 'interest'). I have an item of service created called 'balancing payment to loan company' which I charge through on the course of treatment with the correct interest amount as a credit to the patient (a minus on our system). These two actions then make their account in credit with the full loan amount.

I don't know how this loan credit service item affects reports used to pay providers, as I don't deal with that myself, but it must show up somewhere to be taken into account.

Answer:

We use SoE Exact but this is what we do in our practice.

In the finance part of the patient file there is an option to input opening balance/ i am not familiar with R4 but if you have the option input (- the subsidy amount) it will at first put the patient in credit, then you input the monies received from the finance company. It should tally to the full amount of the treatment and it should show that the patient is in credit until the full course of treatment is charged.

Answer:

There is an easy way to process an IFC and I’ll tell you how it’s done in my practice.

You process the payment from your IFC company as (cheque for example, that’s how I do it), this will be the amount that your patient wishes to finance minus the cost of the IFC.

Then you credit note on R4 the IFC interest so you can put your patient in credit for the full amount.

Let’s say you patient wants to finance £2000 worth of treatment. The cost will be let’s say £200.00.

You will click Till then Payment and then Cheque and take £1800.00, you will be then £1800.00 IN CREDIT.

You will then credit note another £200.00(the IFC cost) to make the £2000 in credit.

You can then complete your treatment and money will balance.

Answer:

We do a balance adjustment and put comment “finance sub” in text so that it’s clear in the accounting why balance has been adjusted.

How does your practice allocate holidays?

I would like to know if you insist that nurses take time off with their dentist, are made to keep some back for Christmas or maybe asked to space them out throughout the year.

Answer:

This year we have imposed their paid leave and said any other leave they require would be without pay. Legally you can do this. However, you may need this written into their contracts. Have you an organisation that can advise you on employment law? As you take on new staff it is a good opportunity to change their contracts. As we close between Christmas and New Year we 'give' these days as a bonus holiday. I don't think it unreasonable that they take their leave when a dentist is off as well.

Answer:

Our team have the 20 days (excluding bank holidays) split into, as follows;

5 days must be taken at the same time as one of the dentists,

5 days may be taken as odd one off days, birthdays etc or "sick days" if they've needed time off for sickness and want to be paid, (We do NOT pay sick pay only SSP)

2 weeks at any time having been previously agreed by the manager…. all holidays need written request and written confirmation

Answer:

We ask, wherever possible, that the dentists and nurses take their annual leave at the same time; if the dentist doesn't have any solid plans but the nurse does then we ask that the dentist take annual leave at the same time to accommodate their nurse and vice versa.

The dentists have more annual leave available to them compared to the nursing / reception staff which allows us to grant leave that doesn't tie in elsewhere.

Annual leave is granted on a first come first served basis.

We don't ask anyone to hold holidays for the Christmas period but it is understood that if the practice is to be closed and they have no AL remaining that the employees will be asked to take unpaid leave rather than being idle at work.

We suggest to all that the leave is spread throughout the year, with no longer than 3 weeks requested at any one time

Answer:

I do make nurses keep back time off for xmas, and also say at interviews that when possible can they take holiday when their dentist is off but it doesn’t always happen

Answer:

Holidays are always difficult. We find it very difficult in the first place to get the dentists to confirm too far in advance when they will be off! Some of them are never off! and some of them take long breaks at strange times – i.e 4 weeks in January !!

We don’t insist on the nurses taking the same time as their dentist, and sometimes they do, but we do try and ensure that one nurse is off when a dentist is off, this usually works quite well. We also try and ensure that they space their holidays over the year and not have too many left to take Nov/Dec time.

Answer:

I insist staff take 2 weeks when a dentist is off and save 3 days for Xmas. Most my staff realise the problems of taking holidays when dentist are in and work around that. As a thank you I always allow unpaid leave, so they take advantage of that.

Answer:

I have been managing a practice for 19 years and always run the same system. Staff must keep holidays to cover the time between Christmas and New Year, and after that staff are given priority in the order in which they were employed.

Answer:

I co-ordinate all of our dental nurses annual leave in conjunction with dentists, it does not have to be their own dentist, I can rotate with the other dentists. But, to ensure smooth running efficiencies two weeks of a nurses leave has to be taken with a dentist (within reason).

We try and give fair holiday entitlement and also 8 days bank holiday a year, so that we can reserve some of their entitled leave for Christmas closedown.

We have a meeting each January and the staff all agreed they would like xmas closedown so were more than happy to reserve a few days for this.

Answer:

At our practice, we do a little of all.

1. Staff are required to keep a minimum of three days for the break between Christmas and New Year given that the practice closes during this time. (Actual amount of reserve may vary from year to year depending upon what days Christmas and New Year fall on).

2. It is our company policy that all staff must split their holiday leave pro-rata over the year. This is to prevent all leave being taken in the beginning of the year and then having nothing left and also to avoid storing holiday leave up and then taking a huge amount towards the end of the year and during busy times.

3. Whilst not compulsory, we do also request that wherever possible, staff should book their annual leave at the same time as the dentist.

Answer:

I think our practice has been very lenient over the years (possibly too much sometimes!) – nurses are encouraged to have time off with their dentists,
but it doesn't always happen! However, if a nurse is off whilst a different dentist is off, the original one just swaps shifts/surgeries and works for
the other dentist.

We don't always like it if a nurse and receptionist on the same shift have too much time off together, as it gets hard to cover both. Staff only have
to work one day at Xmas too, so they don't need to store lots of hol up either!

With 4 dentists working 2 shifts and 19 nurses and receptionists, working both shifts, to accommodate, it isn't always easy; but as most are part-time
and job-share, they tend to cover each other and I cover reception in the busy holiday period.

Answer:

Nurses take time off with their dentist preferable! (If the dentist takes two weeks then the nurse has to take the two weeks with him/her and then still have the option of her own choice of two weeks consecutive- this is then a win win situation for both.

School holidays/ nurses with children know that this will be their first choice but this time needs to be shared with the other nurses that need time in the summer holidays as well. (Plan ahead in the year and let them share one year IN /OUT)

Two weekscan be consecutive the remainder need to spaced out and what best suits the practice. (unless a nurse takes time with the Dentist)

Answer:

We do a sheet with a holiday request that the nurses fill in, then we check the schedule to see if it’s convenient for them to take leave then, we only allow one nurse or one receptionist off at any one time. Also we give a bonus if you take leave when the dentist is off i.e. if the dentist is off for a week and you take that week, it only cost you 3 days of your leave instead of 5 . It doesn't work for all the staff especially the ones with children as they need school holidays but most of our nurses like this. Yes you can say that they need to keep a proportion of their leave to cover the Christmas period.

Answer:

Most of our nurses take holidays when they want and we cover them with myself and a receptionist who is also training to be a nurse, however, we do try to encourage as many people take time off when the dentists take their holidays as it makes more sense, but we would not insist. Most of them take the time off anyway.

It is stated in our contracts though that there may be compulsory holidays throughout the year especially at Christmas, so it is there if we need it

Christmas we are only open for 3 hours each day in between Christmas and New Year so most people prefer to take it off as it can be quite boring.

Answer:

We are quite flexible with holidays and operate a 'half-rate' system which works that if a nurse takes time off when they are not needed (ie when a dentist is off) they get it at half-rate, ie two days taken off when they are surplus means only one day is deducted from their holiday allowance. This encourages nurses to take time off at a better time for the practice. More recently we have had to cap the amount of half-rate holiday taken to help distribute it more fairly. We've operated this system for 10 years now and it works well for us.

Answer:

Our nurses have 5 weeks holiday: 2 weeks have to be taken with dentist (dentist may have to fit in with nurse), then 3 weeks when there is availability. Our practice is not closed so we do not make them take time off near Christmas etc.

Answer:

Our Nurses do not necessary take the same holidays as there dentist, sometimes it works out. We have two rules 1. Only one nurse of at a time 2. They must keep holidays for Christmas break. Plus 6 weeks notice has to be given for holidays longer then a week, that way you have time to sort out any problems regards getting extra staff, any nurses working part time can re-arrange there work days.

Answer:

We ask all nursing and other (i.e. reception) staff to take their holidays at the same time as our two dentists and therapist (who also take their holidays at different times to ensure emergency cover) – usually nursing staff and dentists / therapists have discussions amongst themselves to agree mutually convenient times. So far I haven't encountered any problems with too many staff wanting to take holidays at the same time. I have also introduced a clause within contracts of employment that holidays will only be agreed with at least one months written notice and only if such a request is compatible with continuity of services – this makes it easier to refuse a holiday request if we have concerns regarding adequate staff cover. Also, staff are generally fairly sensible with regard to taking holiday over the twelve month period – I have never encountered anyone wanting to take all their holiday entitlement within a short period of time – they generally stagger it over the twelve months.

Answer:

Our only request and we have it written into their contract – is that they take 50% of their holiday with their GDP.

Answer:

I have it in their contract that 2 of their 4 weeks must be taken at the same time as a dentist but not necessarily dentist they are allocated to work with. This gives a bit more flexibility. Priority is given to the nurse the dentist works with and then offered to others if nurse doesn't want that date.

Answer:

We close the practice Christmas week so everyone has to save holiday to accommodate this. We do not specify when other holidays must be taken, although as a single handed practice it is more convenient if staff take holiday when the dentist does. Holidays have to be agreed with us & I try to discourage everyone taking holiday the week after another staff member has been off.

Answer:

We try and encourage our nurses to take time of with their dentists, but don’t insist (a difficult one to deal with!), we do how ever ask them to keep holiday to take over Christmas but on some occasions have had to ask them to take unpaid as they have used up all their allocation.

How does your practice allocate holidays?

I would like to know if you insist that nurses take time off with their dentist, are made to keep some back for Christmas or maybe asked to space them out throughout the year.

Answer:

This year we have imposed their paid leave and said any other leave they require would be without pay. Legally you can do this. However, you may need this written into their contracts. Have you an organisation that can advise you on employment law? As you take on new staff it is a good opportunity to change their contracts. As we close between Christmas and New Year we 'give' these days as a bonus holiday. I don't think it unreasonable that they take their leave when a dentist is off as well.

Answer:

Our team have the 20 days (excluding bank holidays) split into, as follows;

5 days must be taken at the same time as one of the dentists,

5 days may be taken as odd one off days, birthdays etc or "sick days" if they've needed time off for sickness and want to be paid, (We do NOT pay sick pay only SSP)

2 weeks at any time having been previously agreed by the manager…. all holidays need written request and written confirmation

Answer:

We ask, wherever possible, that the dentists and nurses take their annual leave at the same time; if the dentist doesn't have any solid plans but the nurse does then we ask that the dentist take annual leave at the same time to accommodate their nurse and vice versa.

The dentists have more annual leave available to them compared to the nursing / reception staff which allows us to grant leave that doesn't tie in elsewhere.

Annual leave is granted on a first come first served basis.

We don't ask anyone to hold holidays for the Christmas period but it is understood that if the practice is to be closed and they have no AL remaining that the employees will be asked to take unpaid leave rather than being idle at work.

We suggest to all that the leave is spread throughout the year, with no longer than 3 weeks requested at any one time

Answer:

I do make nurses keep back time off for xmas, and also say at interviews that when possible can they take holiday when their dentist is off but it doesn’t always happen

Answer:

Holidays are always difficult. We find it very difficult in the first place to get the dentists to confirm too far in advance when they will be off! Some of them are never off! and some of them take long breaks at strange times – i.e 4 weeks in January !!

We don’t insist on the nurses taking the same time as their dentist, and sometimes they do, but we do try and ensure that one nurse is off when a dentist is off, this usually works quite well. We also try and ensure that they space their holidays over the year and not have too many left to take Nov/Dec time.

Answer:

I insist staff take 2 weeks when a dentist is off and save 3 days for Xmas. Most my staff realise the problems of taking holidays when dentist are in and work around that. As a thank you I always allow unpaid leave, so they take advantage of that.

Answer:

I have been managing a practice for 19 years and always run the same system. Staff must keep holidays to cover the time between Christmas and New Year, and after that staff are given priority in the order in which they were employed.

Answer:

I co-ordinate all of our dental nurses annual leave in conjunction with dentists, it does not have to be their own dentist, I can rotate with the other dentists. But, to ensure smooth running efficiencies two weeks of a nurses leave has to be taken with a dentist (within reason).

We try and give fair holiday entitlement and also 8 days bank holiday a year, so that we can reserve some of their entitled leave for Christmas closedown.

We have a meeting each January and the staff all agreed they would like xmas closedown so were more than happy to reserve a few days for this.

Answer:

At our practice, we do a little of all.

1. Staff are required to keep a minimum of three days for the break between Christmas and New Year given that the practice closes during this time. (Actual amount of reserve may vary from year to year depending upon what days Christmas and New Year fall on).

2. It is our company policy that all staff must split their holiday leave pro-rata over the year. This is to prevent all leave being taken in the beginning of the year and then having nothing left and also to avoid storing holiday leave up and then taking a huge amount towards the end of the year and during busy times.

3. Whilst not compulsory, we do also request that wherever possible, staff should book their annual leave at the same time as the dentist.

Answer:

I think our practice has been very lenient over the years (possibly too much sometimes!) – nurses are encouraged to have time off with their dentists,
but it doesn't always happen! However, if a nurse is off whilst a different dentist is off, the original one just swaps shifts/surgeries and works for
the other dentist.

We don't always like it if a nurse and receptionist on the same shift have too much time off together, as it gets hard to cover both. Staff only have
to work one day at Xmas too, so they don't need to store lots of hol up either!

With 4 dentists working 2 shifts and 19 nurses and receptionists, working both shifts, to accommodate, it isn't always easy; but as most are part-time
and job-share, they tend to cover each other and I cover reception in the busy holiday period.

Answer:

Nurses take time off with their dentist preferable! (If the dentist takes two weeks then the nurse has to take the two weeks with him/her and then still have the option of her own choice of two weeks consecutive- this is then a win win situation for both.

School holidays/ nurses with children know that this will be their first choice but this time needs to be shared with the other nurses that need time in the summer holidays as well. (Plan ahead in the year and let them share one year IN /OUT)

Two weekscan be consecutive the remainder need to spaced out and what best suits the practice. (unless a nurse takes time with the Dentist)

Answer:

We do a sheet with a holiday request that the nurses fill in, then we check the schedule to see if it’s convenient for them to take leave then, we only allow one nurse or one receptionist off at any one time. Also we give a bonus if you take leave when the dentist is off i.e. if the dentist is off for a week and you take that week, it only cost you 3 days of your leave instead of 5 . It doesn't work for all the staff especially the ones with children as they need school holidays but most of our nurses like this. Yes you can say that they need to keep a proportion of their leave to cover the Christmas period.

Answer:

Most of our nurses take holidays when they want and we cover them with myself and a receptionist who is also training to be a nurse, however, we do try to encourage as many people take time off when the dentists take their holidays as it makes more sense, but we would not insist. Most of them take the time off anyway.

It is stated in our contracts though that there may be compulsory holidays throughout the year especially at Christmas, so it is there if we need it

Christmas we are only open for 3 hours each day in between Christmas and New Year so most people prefer to take it off as it can be quite boring.

Answer:

We are quite flexible with holidays and operate a 'half-rate' system which works that if a nurse takes time off when they are not needed (ie when a dentist is off) they get it at half-rate, ie two days taken off when they are surplus means only one day is deducted from their holiday allowance. This encourages nurses to take time off at a better time for the practice. More recently we have had to cap the amount of half-rate holiday taken to help distribute it more fairly. We've operated this system for 10 years now and it works well for us.

Answer:

Our nurses have 5 weeks holiday: 2 weeks have to be taken with dentist (dentist may have to fit in with nurse), then 3 weeks when there is availability. Our practice is not closed so we do not make them take time off near Christmas etc.

Answer:

Our Nurses do not necessary take the same holidays as there dentist, sometimes it works out. We have two rules 1. Only one nurse of at a time 2. They must keep holidays for Christmas break. Plus 6 weeks notice has to be given for holidays longer then a week, that way you have time to sort out any problems regards getting extra staff, any nurses working part time can re-arrange there work days.

Answer:

We ask all nursing and other (i.e. reception) staff to take their holidays at the same time as our two dentists and therapist (who also take their holidays at different times to ensure emergency cover) – usually nursing staff and dentists / therapists have discussions amongst themselves to agree mutually convenient times. So far I haven't encountered any problems with too many staff wanting to take holidays at the same time. I have also introduced a clause within contracts of employment that holidays will only be agreed with at least one months written notice and only if such a request is compatible with continuity of services – this makes it easier to refuse a holiday request if we have concerns regarding adequate staff cover. Also, staff are generally fairly sensible with regard to taking holiday over the twelve month period – I have never encountered anyone wanting to take all their holiday entitlement within a short period of time – they generally stagger it over the twelve months.

Answer:

Our only request and we have it written into their contract – is that they take 50% of their holiday with their GDP.

Answer:

I have it in their contract that 2 of their 4 weeks must be taken at the same time as a dentist but not necessarily dentist they are allocated to work with. This gives a bit more flexibility. Priority is given to the nurse the dentist works with and then offered to others if nurse doesn't want that date.

Answer:

We close the practice Christmas week so everyone has to save holiday to accommodate this. We do not specify when other holidays must be taken, although as a single handed practice it is more convenient if staff take holiday when the dentist does. Holidays have to be agreed with us & I try to discourage everyone taking holiday the week after another staff member has been off.

Answer:

We try and encourage our nurses to take time of with their dentists, but don’t insist (a difficult one to deal with!), we do how ever ask them to keep holiday to take over Christmas but on some occasions have had to ask them to take unpaid as they have used up all their allocation.

Failed Hygienists’ Appointments

Question:

We tend to fill our hygienist days but nearer the day, we can get quite a few cancellations and failed to attends. It does not always happen, but on some days we can have 2 or 3 gaps. Does this happen to everyone? Is it normal? Does anyone have any procedures in place to prevent it happening? The hygienist days seem to be much more affected by this than our other books!

Answer:

We have put together a leaflet on visiting the hygienist and add it to our recall letters, to inform people of the importance of the hygiene visits.

Answer:

Yes we also have this problem at our practice and we have started asking patients to pay for their hygiene visit in advance.   We seem to have a lot less last minute cancels and FTAs.

Answer:

We have a private hygienist – so our patients get referred by our NHS dentist – we take a £20.00 deposit on the day they book, the balance of £20.00 is paid on the day – if they FTA we then keep the £20.00 and that goes to the hygienist .

If they cancel on the day we keep the £20.00 deposit again for the hygienist – if they cancel a few days before the appointment – we re book and move the deposit to that day.

Answer:

We have also faced similar problems with our hygienist appointments in the past.

In the end we had to change our policy and put up a note saying that we will be taking advance deposit on hygienist appointment. This has ensured that patient turn up on the day of the appointment.  It has reduced the number of  fta and short notice cancellations. Amazingly majority of the patients have taken this new policy very well.  Also along with the change in payment policy we have also made our reminder system better.

Answer:

We have had a similar problem. We now book the check up appointment with the dentist and 15 mins later book the hygienist appointment so the patient sees both clinicians on the same day (this has made a huge difference in FTA/short notice cancellations). We also telephone all the remaining hygienist patients who do not have dual appointments the day before to remind them of their appointment time.

Answer:

This happens to us as well.  Our hygienist is usually booked up for quite a few weeks, so we have a cancellation list.  The receptionist phones people on the list, offering them the cancelled appointments. Also the nurses are made aware there are gaps, so that if they have a patient in who has been advised to see the Hygienist they can offer an appointment.

Answer:

We experience the same problem and we are confirming patients by telephone 2 days before their appointment and keep a very up to date standby list in case of any cancellations.

Answer:

We text our patients two days prior to their appointments, those without mobiles receive a reminder letter 1 week before. When I worked in a general practice we had a spate of this happening.  We decided instead of calling the day before to confirm hygienist appointments, we would call the week before and then if anyone had a problem we had a chance to fill the space.

Having listened to Chris Barrow last night and the importance of gaining patient loyalty, we are toying with the idea of offering patients who are present in the practice at the time of the hygienists free time a “spa” type mouth treatment. I’ve asked our hygienists to work on a 15 minute appointment idea where the patient gets some nice polishing, a bit of OHI, discussions on the benefits of hygiene or other dental treatments. The patient selected needs to be a regular patient of the practice and this service would be free to them.

Answer:

We tell the patients that the Hygienist is the most important person in the practice as without gums there is no point the Dentist doing his fab work – sounds good but we still get the failures, etc.

Answer:

We confirm all our hygiene appts the day before. We ask for 48 hrs notice for cancellation but charge the full cost of appt if pt does not come. You could try asking for a deposit prior to appt. This is not foolproof but it has helped us.

Answer:

All our hygiene patients have to pay for appointment in advance on booking. Then if they short notice cancel or FTA they forfeit the fee and have to pay again. May seem a bit harsh but then you sift out the time wasters.

Answer:

We have this problem too, we do charge for late cancellations and also offer a 10% discount to patients on the day if they take a cancellation appt. This does work in our practice

Answer:

We had the same problem, and introduced a 48 hour cancellation fee of the full amount if after this time, that is unless they can move to another gap that week and then we do not charge. The treatment plan which is given when the booking is made states that there is the full charge for missed appointments with less than 48 hours notice.

Failed Hygienists’ Appointments

Question:

We tend to fill our hygienist days but nearer the day, we can get quite a few cancellations and failed to attends. It does not always happen, but on some days we can have 2 or 3 gaps. Does this happen to everyone? Is it normal? Does anyone have any procedures in place to prevent it happening? The hygienist days seem to be much more affected by this than our other books!

Answer:

We have put together a leaflet on visiting the hygienist and add it to our recall letters, to inform people of the importance of the hygiene visits.

Answer:

Yes we also have this problem at our practice and we have started asking patients to pay for their hygiene visit in advance.   We seem to have a lot less last minute cancels and FTAs.

Answer:

We have a private hygienist – so our patients get referred by our NHS dentist – we take a £20.00 deposit on the day they book, the balance of £20.00 is paid on the day – if they FTA we then keep the £20.00 and that goes to the hygienist .

If they cancel on the day we keep the £20.00 deposit again for the hygienist – if they cancel a few days before the appointment – we re book and move the deposit to that day.

Answer:

We have also faced similar problems with our hygienist appointments in the past.

In the end we had to change our policy and put up a note saying that we will be taking advance deposit on hygienist appointment. This has ensured that patient turn up on the day of the appointment.  It has reduced the number of  fta and short notice cancellations. Amazingly majority of the patients have taken this new policy very well.  Also along with the change in payment policy we have also made our reminder system better.

Answer:

We have had a similar problem. We now book the check up appointment with the dentist and 15 mins later book the hygienist appointment so the patient sees both clinicians on the same day (this has made a huge difference in FTA/short notice cancellations). We also telephone all the remaining hygienist patients who do not have dual appointments the day before to remind them of their appointment time.

Answer:

This happens to us as well.  Our hygienist is usually booked up for quite a few weeks, so we have a cancellation list.  The receptionist phones people on the list, offering them the cancelled appointments. Also the nurses are made aware there are gaps, so that if they have a patient in who has been advised to see the Hygienist they can offer an appointment.

Answer:

We experience the same problem and we are confirming patients by telephone 2 days before their appointment and keep a very up to date standby list in case of any cancellations.

Answer:

We text our patients two days prior to their appointments, those without mobiles receive a reminder letter 1 week before. When I worked in a general practice we had a spate of this happening.  We decided instead of calling the day before to confirm hygienist appointments, we would call the week before and then if anyone had a problem we had a chance to fill the space.

Having listened to Chris Barrow last night and the importance of gaining patient loyalty, we are toying with the idea of offering patients who are present in the practice at the time of the hygienists free time a “spa” type mouth treatment. I’ve asked our hygienists to work on a 15 minute appointment idea where the patient gets some nice polishing, a bit of OHI, discussions on the benefits of hygiene or other dental treatments. The patient selected needs to be a regular patient of the practice and this service would be free to them.

Answer:

We tell the patients that the Hygienist is the most important person in the practice as without gums there is no point the Dentist doing his fab work – sounds good but we still get the failures, etc.

Answer:

We confirm all our hygiene appts the day before. We ask for 48 hrs notice for cancellation but charge the full cost of appt if pt does not come. You could try asking for a deposit prior to appt. This is not foolproof but it has helped us.

Answer:

All our hygiene patients have to pay for appointment in advance on booking. Then if they short notice cancel or FTA they forfeit the fee and have to pay again. May seem a bit harsh but then you sift out the time wasters.

Answer:

We have this problem too, we do charge for late cancellations and also offer a 10% discount to patients on the day if they take a cancellation appt. This does work in our practice

Answer:

We had the same problem, and introduced a 48 hour cancellation fee of the full amount if after this time, that is unless they can move to another gap that week and then we do not charge. The treatment plan which is given when the booking is made states that there is the full charge for missed appointments with less than 48 hours notice.

Associate Percentage – Referring Patients

Question:

Please could you share how you charge your dentists for the hygiene patients? we are charging the associates a fee for referring patients to the hygienist and others a percentage. We want to offer an incentive for referring and not make the associate feel they are being 'out done by' for sending patients for a S/P. Please could you advise me how you all work out hyg figures for associates?

Answer:

We charge the patient £35. £15 each to practice and hygienist and £5 to referring dentist which is added to the private monies each month as a gross payment. ie the dentist received the whole £5. This seems to work very well.

Answer:

We pay the hygienist 40% and give the associates a fee of £4.00 per referral

Answer:

We give our patients a 15 min slot with our hygienists, the rate that is charged to each dentists is the Hygienists hourly rate divided by 4, i.e £28 per hour / by 4 = £7 per 15 min slot

Answer:

We charge the dentist the therapist hourly rate. ie if the therapist is paid £40 per hour, we would charge £10 per 15 min appt. if the dentist charges the patient £30 per 15min appt the net fee to the dentist is £20 per 15min appt, which should be an incentive. This is subject to the dentist percentage. ie everything would be at 50% including fees and payment.

Answer:

Our associate is paid 10% of what the patient pays us for each patient he refers. The hygienists keep daily tables of the number of patients seen and who the referrer is.

Answer:

Our associates pay 50% of the expenses (hyg included) and receive 50% of their income. This means we pay half of the hyg hours they use and they pay the other half.

Associate Percentage – Referring Patients

Question:

Please could you share how you charge your dentists for the hygiene patients? we are charging the associates a fee for referring patients to the hygienist and others a percentage. We want to offer an incentive for referring and not make the associate feel they are being 'out done by' for sending patients for a S/P. Please could you advise me how you all work out hyg figures for associates?

Answer:

We charge the patient £35. £15 each to practice and hygienist and £5 to referring dentist which is added to the private monies each month as a gross payment. ie the dentist received the whole £5. This seems to work very well.

Answer:

We pay the hygienist 40% and give the associates a fee of £4.00 per referral

Answer:

We give our patients a 15 min slot with our hygienists, the rate that is charged to each dentists is the Hygienists hourly rate divided by 4, i.e £28 per hour / by 4 = £7 per 15 min slot

Answer:

We charge the dentist the therapist hourly rate. ie if the therapist is paid £40 per hour, we would charge £10 per 15 min appt. if the dentist charges the patient £30 per 15min appt the net fee to the dentist is £20 per 15min appt, which should be an incentive. This is subject to the dentist percentage. ie everything would be at 50% including fees and payment.

Answer:

Our associate is paid 10% of what the patient pays us for each patient he refers. The hygienists keep daily tables of the number of patients seen and who the referrer is.

Answer:

Our associates pay 50% of the expenses (hyg included) and receive 50% of their income. This means we pay half of the hyg hours they use and they pay the other half.

Capitation Patients

Question:

Could anyone share with me how their practice pays an associate in respect of capitation patients. By this I mean what does the associate receive for their own capitation patients and those patients they see registered to another clinician in the practice.

Answer:

We make an "interschedule adjustment" the treating dentist charges the colleague normal private fees for work provided, we usually check with the dentist with whom the patient is registered before we make the payment. We also try whenever possible, never to book each others patients when on a capitation scheme. The amount paid to the practice is added to the dentists income and calculated as all other income at 45% or whatever the agreement %.

Capitation Patients

Question:

Could anyone share with me how their practice pays an associate in respect of capitation patients. By this I mean what does the associate receive for their own capitation patients and those patients they see registered to another clinician in the practice.

Answer:

We make an "interschedule adjustment" the treating dentist charges the colleague normal private fees for work provided, we usually check with the dentist with whom the patient is registered before we make the payment. We also try whenever possible, never to book each others patients when on a capitation scheme. The amount paid to the practice is added to the dentists income and calculated as all other income at 45% or whatever the agreement %.

CQC Job Title

Question:

Our query is that with CQC coming into force, the title of Practice Manager is dispute. One of our Dentists has taken on the role of Manager of the CQC programme, but I will be continuing with my Practice Managers duties. CQC seem to have problems differentiating between Dental Practice Managers and Medical/Nursing Home Practice Managers. My Dentist is concerned as to what my title should be, would it be wrong in being called Practice Manager or is there another title to be used.

Answer:

You can be called what you like. I would suggest you stay Practice Manager and the dentist is Clinical Manager, or you could be Development Manager or similar while he is Operational Manager.

CQC Job Title

Question:

Our query is that with CQC coming into force, the title of Practice Manager is dispute. One of our Dentists has taken on the role of Manager of the CQC programme, but I will be continuing with my Practice Managers duties. CQC seem to have problems differentiating between Dental Practice Managers and Medical/Nursing Home Practice Managers. My Dentist is concerned as to what my title should be, would it be wrong in being called Practice Manager or is there another title to be used.

Answer:

You can be called what you like. I would suggest you stay Practice Manager and the dentist is Clinical Manager, or you could be Development Manager or similar while he is Operational Manager.

Discoloured nails

Question:

One of my dental nurses has been to see me. She has discoloured nails and this affects her confidence – she has them covered professionally with pink/white powder to disguise this. She has asked if she can continue with this to help with confidence issues. As I understand, the current guidance is that nails should be completely free from varnish, patterns / false nails. Does this mean I would need to ask her to stop having her nails coloured to ensure our compliance?

Answer:

This is one of my real bugbears – I think professionally manicured nails look so much better but the guidance is that nails should be short and uncoloured. However, it is guidance rather than legislation, so I think if you can argue the case then go ahead – that's my personal view.

Amelia Bray
BDPMA Chairman

Discoloured nails

Question:

One of my dental nurses has been to see me. She has discoloured nails and this affects her confidence – she has them covered professionally with pink/white powder to disguise this. She has asked if she can continue with this to help with confidence issues. As I understand, the current guidance is that nails should be completely free from varnish, patterns / false nails. Does this mean I would need to ask her to stop having her nails coloured to ensure our compliance?

Answer:

This is one of my real bugbears – I think professionally manicured nails look so much better but the guidance is that nails should be short and uncoloured. However, it is guidance rather than legislation, so I think if you can argue the case then go ahead – that's my personal view.

Amelia Bray
BDPMA Chairman

Registered Manager – Legal Responsibility

Question:

I am a practice manager and my principal has telephoned CQC’s helpline and has been assured that the legal responsibility has now been removed from the Registered Manager’s role, but there doesn’t appear to be a written updated version of the roles and responsibilities of the RM. Please can you confirm this is correct.

Answer:

Thank you for your recent email. The guidance states: A registered person must, in so far as they are applicable, comply with the requirements specified in regulations 9 to 24 in relation to any regulated activity in respect of which they are registered (see PART 4 QUALITY AND SAFETY OF SERVICE PROVISION IN RELATION TO REGULATED ACTIVITY page 236). Please also read the Essential Standards of Quality and Safety particularly on pages 184 – 187. This would therefore make them liable for enforcement action if the above regulations they were registered for were not complied with or contravened

Kris Kristiansen
Shared Services Administrator
Customer Services – Correspondence
Care Quality Commission

Question:

At the meeting in Manchester presented by Code and Fiona Stuart Wilson where Amelia Bray was one of the speakers, we were advised to think carefully before taking on the role of Registered Manager in part due to the legal responsibility that the role carried.

My principal has telephoned CQC’s helpline and has been assured that the legal responsibility has now been removed from the Registered Manager’s role, but there doesn’t appear to be a written updated version of the roles and responsibilities of the RM. 

Can you shed any light on this?

Answer:

In response to your query, it is the legal entity (the provider, partnership or organisation) that is liable for any fines that may be endorsed on the practice and not the registered manager.

I hope this provides you with clarification.

Nazia Hayat
Shared Services Officer
Customer Services – Correspondence Team
Care Quality Commission

Question:

I have a query about CQC and the legal ramifications and responsibilities connected with it. I am the Practice Manager of a surgery which is run as a limited company. The actual owner is a GP who is the widow of the Principle Dentist who sadly passed away almost three years ago. She is a Director with two other Dentists both of which do not work at the practice. We have 3 Associate Dentists who work at the surgery all of which have no part in the ownership of the practice.

In terms of CQC, there are certain roles in which you have to name people and I an very uncertain about this. Of course I over see the running of the Practice day to day but I have no part in the ownership. The owner is not here day to day. I have been given various advice from colleagues and other Practice Managers about whether or not I should put my name down as the ''registered manager'' or ''nominated individual''. I have spoken to the BDA and they say I should not do this but I am feeling under pressure that I must by the owner.

Please could you advise me on what I should do?

Answer:

In response to your query, a provider should register as an organisation if they are, for example, a registered company or charity, a limited liability partnership or other corporate body.

You will need to provide details for a main point of contact (a ‘nominated individual’) at your business for each regulated activity.  They must be someone responsible for supervising the management of the activity and should therefore be a director, manager or secretary of the business.

There is no reason why you should not have the same person as your nominated individual for all your activities, so long as they are responsible for supervising the management of them .

Where the provider is an organisation or a partnership,the person responsible for the day-to-day running of the service must also register with us as a ‘registered manager’.

It is possible for the nominated individual to be the registered manager also.

I hope this information is of help.

Nazia Hayat
Shared Services Officer
Customer Services – Correspondence Team
Care Quality Commission

Registered Manager – Legal Responsibility

Question:

I am a practice manager and my principal has telephoned CQC’s helpline and has been assured that the legal responsibility has now been removed from the Registered Manager’s role, but there doesn’t appear to be a written updated version of the roles and responsibilities of the RM. Please can you confirm this is correct.

Answer:

Thank you for your recent email. The guidance states: A registered person must, in so far as they are applicable, comply with the requirements specified in regulations 9 to 24 in relation to any regulated activity in respect of which they are registered (see PART 4 QUALITY AND SAFETY OF SERVICE PROVISION IN RELATION TO REGULATED ACTIVITY page 236). Please also read the Essential Standards of Quality and Safety particularly on pages 184 – 187. This would therefore make them liable for enforcement action if the above regulations they were registered for were not complied with or contravened

Kris Kristiansen
Shared Services Administrator
Customer Services – Correspondence
Care Quality Commission

Question:

At the meeting in Manchester presented by Code and Fiona Stuart Wilson where Amelia Bray was one of the speakers, we were advised to think carefully before taking on the role of Registered Manager in part due to the legal responsibility that the role carried.

My principal has telephoned CQC’s helpline and has been assured that the legal responsibility has now been removed from the Registered Manager’s role, but there doesn’t appear to be a written updated version of the roles and responsibilities of the RM. 

Can you shed any light on this?

Answer:

In response to your query, it is the legal entity (the provider, partnership or organisation) that is liable for any fines that may be endorsed on the practice and not the registered manager.

I hope this provides you with clarification.

Nazia Hayat
Shared Services Officer
Customer Services – Correspondence Team
Care Quality Commission

Question:

I have a query about CQC and the legal ramifications and responsibilities connected with it. I am the Practice Manager of a surgery which is run as a limited company. The actual owner is a GP who is the widow of the Principle Dentist who sadly passed away almost three years ago. She is a Director with two other Dentists both of which do not work at the practice. We have 3 Associate Dentists who work at the surgery all of which have no part in the ownership of the practice.

In terms of CQC, there are certain roles in which you have to name people and I an very uncertain about this. Of course I over see the running of the Practice day to day but I have no part in the ownership. The owner is not here day to day. I have been given various advice from colleagues and other Practice Managers about whether or not I should put my name down as the ''registered manager'' or ''nominated individual''. I have spoken to the BDA and they say I should not do this but I am feeling under pressure that I must by the owner.

Please could you advise me on what I should do?

Answer:

In response to your query, a provider should register as an organisation if they are, for example, a registered company or charity, a limited liability partnership or other corporate body.

You will need to provide details for a main point of contact (a ‘nominated individual’) at your business for each regulated activity.  They must be someone responsible for supervising the management of the activity and should therefore be a director, manager or secretary of the business.

There is no reason why you should not have the same person as your nominated individual for all your activities, so long as they are responsible for supervising the management of them .

Where the provider is an organisation or a partnership,the person responsible for the day-to-day running of the service must also register with us as a ‘registered manager’.

It is possible for the nominated individual to be the registered manager also.

I hope this information is of help.

Nazia Hayat
Shared Services Officer
Customer Services – Correspondence Team
Care Quality Commission

Do I need a music license?

Question:

I'm trying to get to the bottom of a possible scam, but am struggling to get anywhere! We were contacted by cold-call about a Music Licence by PRS. They said we required a music licence if we play the radio in reception and if any of our demo DVD's had background music on them (even if they're official licensed products?)

Answer:

PPL is a music entertainment service company licensing recorded music on behalf of over 3,500 record companies and 40,000 performers.

It was set up in 1934 by the record industry to grant licences for the broadcasting or playing of sound recordings such as CDs, tapes and records in public. Whenever recorded music is played in public, whether it’s on the radio, in a bar or club, a PPL licence is required.

When do I need a licence?

Under UK copyright law (the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988) a PPL licence is required when sound recordings subject to our control are played in public.  By ‘public’ we mean any event except a family or domestic gathering.  Many people ask, “If it’s my CD, why can’t I play it whenever and wherever I want?”  Owning a sound recording does not give you an automatic right to play it in public.

How much does a licence cost?

The cost of a PPL licence depends on how the music is being used.  For example in a dental surgery waiting room/reception area, the cost is a flat rate fee of £91.02 per annum excluding VAT.

Who should take out the licence?

PPL usually licenses the occupier of the premises if the sound recordings and the equipment are not rented.  If you hire a music system, juke box and/or sound recordings from PPL-licensed operators to provide background music, the operator or supplier should obtain the licence on your behalf.  If you are holding any other events such as discos, you yourself may also need an extra licence direct from PPL.  In some cases we can also license the organiser of an event.  All the people involved have an equal responsibility under copyright law to get a licence.  If anyone has any doubts about who should apply for it, they should contact us.

Do I require a licence to show broadcast TV in my pub?

With effect from 31 October 2003, UK copyright law was changed so that a PPL licence is technically required when sound recordings are played in public via a radio or TV broadcast.  However, due to the statutory process that PPL has to follow, PPL has not yet been able to update its Waiting Rooms/Reception Areas tariff (which is the tariff that applies to background music played in dentists' surgeries).  If a dentists' surgery is only playing recorded music via a radio or TV broadcast, it therefore does not currently need to apply for a PPL licence, but should be aware that it will require one in due course.

The advice on the DCMS website relates to premises that are licensed under the Licensing Act 2003. Under the Licensing Act a premises, normally a pub or restaurant etc requires an additional licence if they have what is known as regulated entertainment (Discos live music karaoke etc) but if they only have a television or radio or background music they do not need this additional licence. This is why the DCMS site says they do not need a licence but what they mean is a licence under the Licensing Act. Irrespective of whether they need a licence under the Licensing Act they may still need a licence from PRS and PPL.

Do I need a music license?

Question:

I'm trying to get to the bottom of a possible scam, but am struggling to get anywhere! We were contacted by cold-call about a Music Licence by PRS. They said we required a music licence if we play the radio in reception and if any of our demo DVD's had background music on them (even if they're official licensed products?)

Answer:

PPL is a music entertainment service company licensing recorded music on behalf of over 3,500 record companies and 40,000 performers.

It was set up in 1934 by the record industry to grant licences for the broadcasting or playing of sound recordings such as CDs, tapes and records in public. Whenever recorded music is played in public, whether it’s on the radio, in a bar or club, a PPL licence is required.

When do I need a licence?

Under UK copyright law (the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988) a PPL licence is required when sound recordings subject to our control are played in public.  By ‘public’ we mean any event except a family or domestic gathering.  Many people ask, “If it’s my CD, why can’t I play it whenever and wherever I want?”  Owning a sound recording does not give you an automatic right to play it in public.

How much does a licence cost?

The cost of a PPL licence depends on how the music is being used.  For example in a dental surgery waiting room/reception area, the cost is a flat rate fee of £91.02 per annum excluding VAT.

Who should take out the licence?

PPL usually licenses the occupier of the premises if the sound recordings and the equipment are not rented.  If you hire a music system, juke box and/or sound recordings from PPL-licensed operators to provide background music, the operator or supplier should obtain the licence on your behalf.  If you are holding any other events such as discos, you yourself may also need an extra licence direct from PPL.  In some cases we can also license the organiser of an event.  All the people involved have an equal responsibility under copyright law to get a licence.  If anyone has any doubts about who should apply for it, they should contact us.

Do I require a licence to show broadcast TV in my pub?

With effect from 31 October 2003, UK copyright law was changed so that a PPL licence is technically required when sound recordings are played in public via a radio or TV broadcast.  However, due to the statutory process that PPL has to follow, PPL has not yet been able to update its Waiting Rooms/Reception Areas tariff (which is the tariff that applies to background music played in dentists' surgeries).  If a dentists' surgery is only playing recorded music via a radio or TV broadcast, it therefore does not currently need to apply for a PPL licence, but should be aware that it will require one in due course.

The advice on the DCMS website relates to premises that are licensed under the Licensing Act 2003. Under the Licensing Act a premises, normally a pub or restaurant etc requires an additional licence if they have what is known as regulated entertainment (Discos live music karaoke etc) but if they only have a television or radio or background music they do not need this additional licence. This is why the DCMS site says they do not need a licence but what they mean is a licence under the Licensing Act. Irrespective of whether they need a licence under the Licensing Act they may still need a licence from PRS and PPL.

What stock control systems do you have in place?

Question:

We have been concerned about our large consumables bills over the last couple of years and do have concerns regarding staff dishonesty. We are a very large 2 sited practice with a monthly spend well over £11,000. I am interested to know if anyone has had similar issues, especially after discovering the dental products that are available on eBay!

Answer:

This may not help as we are a one-sited practice with only 3 dentists and a hygienist. What we do is have a stock list of everything that is located in our main storage cupboard. Each nurse has to mark off what they have taken and our head nurse does a weekly check on how much we need to order. When stock comes in we mark this on the stock cupboard list so we have an up-to-date record of what we have and when new stock arrives. In our practice meetings we mention when the stock list does not marry up with the stock left in the cupboard. We have a maximum amount of consumables that each surgery can stock at anyone time (1 sleeve of plastic cups, 3 boxes of tissues, 3 bundles of c-fold towels, 3 bundles of stack-a-pack tissues, etc.

We also can quickly check on the stock list to see what we are ordering and when discrepancies can arise due to clinicians holiday, sickness, etc. if none of these, the discrepancies are looked at more closely.

If we have any discrepancies we discuss this in the practice meeting so that staff are aware that:-

1. We are seeing what is going on

2. They are aware of what things cost (so please do not waste)

3. That we make sure all support staff are accurate at recording things

We also have periods where the nurse has to record what consumables and materials she brings into that surgery – normally do it for 1 month and all surgeries do it at the same time this allows us to see and double check how much each individual surgery uses.

We found that since we adopted the system we have more consistency in consumable stock ordering which obviously allows us to plan.We keep the more expensive items in a separate cupboard (composites, burs, etch, etc) but still use the same type of stock system.

We only allow the Heads Nurse/Practice Manager or Principal to order stock, normally the PM then one person has hold of the situation.

Answer:

I have stock cupboards and sheets for stocks we use on a regular basis this shows what we are ordering each month also order numbers etc for quick ordering.

Answer:

My stock room is locked, each surgery has a stock book that they write down what stock is required each week, they only get stock once a week,
this enables us to see what stock is being used comparing it to what is booked appointment wise. No one but my principal or me have access to the room.

What stock control systems do you have in place?

Question:

We have been concerned about our large consumables bills over the last couple of years and do have concerns regarding staff dishonesty. We are a very large 2 sited practice with a monthly spend well over £11,000. I am interested to know if anyone has had similar issues, especially after discovering the dental products that are available on eBay!

Answer:

This may not help as we are a one-sited practice with only 3 dentists and a hygienist. What we do is have a stock list of everything that is located in our main storage cupboard. Each nurse has to mark off what they have taken and our head nurse does a weekly check on how much we need to order. When stock comes in we mark this on the stock cupboard list so we have an up-to-date record of what we have and when new stock arrives. In our practice meetings we mention when the stock list does not marry up with the stock left in the cupboard. We have a maximum amount of consumables that each surgery can stock at anyone time (1 sleeve of plastic cups, 3 boxes of tissues, 3 bundles of c-fold towels, 3 bundles of stack-a-pack tissues, etc.

We also can quickly check on the stock list to see what we are ordering and when discrepancies can arise due to clinicians holiday, sickness, etc. if none of these, the discrepancies are looked at more closely.

If we have any discrepancies we discuss this in the practice meeting so that staff are aware that:-

1. We are seeing what is going on

2. They are aware of what things cost (so please do not waste)

3. That we make sure all support staff are accurate at recording things

We also have periods where the nurse has to record what consumables and materials she brings into that surgery – normally do it for 1 month and all surgeries do it at the same time this allows us to see and double check how much each individual surgery uses.

We found that since we adopted the system we have more consistency in consumable stock ordering which obviously allows us to plan.We keep the more expensive items in a separate cupboard (composites, burs, etch, etc) but still use the same type of stock system.

We only allow the Heads Nurse/Practice Manager or Principal to order stock, normally the PM then one person has hold of the situation.

Answer:

I have stock cupboards and sheets for stocks we use on a regular basis this shows what we are ordering each month also order numbers etc for quick ordering.

Answer:

My stock room is locked, each surgery has a stock book that they write down what stock is required each week, they only get stock once a week,
this enables us to see what stock is being used comparing it to what is booked appointment wise. No one but my principal or me have access to the room.

How do you sterilise appliances when they come back from the lab?

Question:

How do you sterilise appliances when they come back from the lab? We understand this is not compulsory but it is recommended but can't find any guidance on what to use, etc.

Answer:

We use UOGUARD from dental directory. Soak for 10 mins and rinse really well.

Answer:

We use ‘Perform’ the same cold disinfectant we use prior to sending appliances to the lab.

Answer:

We use sterilox in our impression baths, one clean: work from lab, one dirty: imps from the patient.

Answer:

We put them in a 'clean' Perform bath and rinse or spray with the anti bug cleaning spray we use to clean surfaces with.

Answer:

We soak in sterilux same as before going to lab.

How do you sterilise appliances when they come back from the lab?

Question:

How do you sterilise appliances when they come back from the lab? We understand this is not compulsory but it is recommended but can't find any guidance on what to use, etc.

Answer:

We use UOGUARD from dental directory. Soak for 10 mins and rinse really well.

Answer:

We use ‘Perform’ the same cold disinfectant we use prior to sending appliances to the lab.

Answer:

We use sterilox in our impression baths, one clean: work from lab, one dirty: imps from the patient.

Answer:

We put them in a 'clean' Perform bath and rinse or spray with the anti bug cleaning spray we use to clean surfaces with.

Answer:

We soak in sterilux same as before going to lab.

Does a Scrub Nurse need to be registered with the GDC?

If they are not working as a Dental Nurse then there is no need to be registered with the GDC. However, they must not be given the title 'nurse' as this can only be used by dental nurses who are registered with the GDC and will cause confusion.  Probably something like "Scrub Room Operative" is politically-correct enough.

Does a Scrub Nurse need to be registered with the GDC?

If they are not working as a Dental Nurse then there is no need to be registered with the GDC. However, they must not be given the title 'nurse' as this can only be used by dental nurses who are registered with the GDC and will cause confusion.  Probably something like "Scrub Room Operative" is politically-correct enough.

Do you know an engineer that installs Panoramic PC-10000 OPG machines?

Answer:

Broxdent – 01773 834819 sell Panoramic Corp Units so would probably be able to advise on installation, the unit will also need to be commissioned/tested by the practices RPA.

Answer:

You could try Peter Martin – 07802 673598. He used to work for Wright Cotterell, but is now freelance, and has got us out of a mess many-a-time!

Answer:

Paul Brocklebank – 01773 834819 of Turnkey Dental, 151 Mansfield Road, Alfreton, Derbyshire, DE55 7QJ, email turnkeydirect@btconnect.com. We have a PC1000 which he installed zillions of years ago and has maintained it ever since (though it requires minimal maintenance, to be fair).

Answer:

We use an engineer called Alistair Griffin, based in Somerset, who is excellent.

Answer:

AG Dental – 07805163888.

Answer:

We use DB Dental for all our equipment installation and maintenance, they installed our Yoshida OPG give them a call 01484 401015 they’re very good, I’m sure they will work with Panoramic.

Answer:

You could try XQS on 01189713937 or Tony Botley on 02380735000.

Do you know an engineer that installs Panoramic PC-10000 OPG machines?

Answer:

Broxdent – 01773 834819 sell Panoramic Corp Units so would probably be able to advise on installation, the unit will also need to be commissioned/tested by the practices RPA.

Answer:

You could try Peter Martin – 07802 673598. He used to work for Wright Cotterell, but is now freelance, and has got us out of a mess many-a-time!

Answer:

Paul Brocklebank – 01773 834819 of Turnkey Dental, 151 Mansfield Road, Alfreton, Derbyshire, DE55 7QJ, email turnkeydirect@btconnect.com. We have a PC1000 which he installed zillions of years ago and has maintained it ever since (though it requires minimal maintenance, to be fair).

Answer:

We use an engineer called Alistair Griffin, based in Somerset, who is excellent.

Answer:

AG Dental – 07805163888.

Answer:

We use DB Dental for all our equipment installation and maintenance, they installed our Yoshida OPG give them a call 01484 401015 they’re very good, I’m sure they will work with Panoramic.

Answer:

You could try XQS on 01189713937 or Tony Botley on 02380735000.

Do you know a company in Edinburgh who can advise and install an LDU?

Answer:

We are based in Paisley and we used Labplus, I'm sure they cover Edinburgh too. LDU very good and looks great.

Answer:

There are a few companies that offer specific LDU packages that spring to mind:

McKenna Facilities Management in Bishopbriggs
0141 563 4000
info@mckennafm.com

Space Solutions in Aberdeen (also with offices in the central belt)
0131 523 1550
Edinburgh@spacesolutions.info

Answer:

I am a PM in Glasgow, we used Wrights to install our LDU about 2 years ago. They were able to recommend a plumber and electrician too. I would recommend them, the worktops are corian and they look as good today as they did on day one.

Do you know a company in Edinburgh who can advise and install an LDU?

Answer:

We are based in Paisley and we used Labplus, I'm sure they cover Edinburgh too. LDU very good and looks great.

Answer:

There are a few companies that offer specific LDU packages that spring to mind:

McKenna Facilities Management in Bishopbriggs
0141 563 4000
info@mckennafm.com

Space Solutions in Aberdeen (also with offices in the central belt)
0131 523 1550
Edinburgh@spacesolutions.info

Answer:

I am a PM in Glasgow, we used Wrights to install our LDU about 2 years ago. They were able to recommend a plumber and electrician too. I would recommend them, the worktops are corian and they look as good today as they did on day one.

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