A dental practice in Thamesmead, London has come up with their own strategy for relaying important practice policies and protocol to the whole team and at the same time meeting the General Dental Council's (GDC's) continuing professional development (CPD) requirements.

Practice director Mr Jonathan Townsend and practice manager Mr Andrew Bloomfield at Gallions Reach Dental Clinic worked together to set about developing a training plan for their dental team.

Andrew explains: ‘The process started by contacting the GDC to find out their requirements for verifiable CPD. Once satisfied that we could achieve the criteria, the solution was to take a policy/protocol or regulation, read through and draw out questions which would meet the GDC requirements.’ An answer sheet was created for staff to complete, making marking the whole process fast and efficient.

The staff at Gallions Reach were given an introduction to a topic and provided with a handout to read and answer. Each topic was allocated an hour but staff were given a week to return their completed answer sheets, giving them time to approach Andrew or Jonathan with any questions they might have. Once marked, verifiable CPD certificates were distributed at the next practice meeting.

Andrew continues: ‘to measure quality control [we] survey the staff and audit the questionnaire sheets’. This has enabled Andrew and Jonathan to refine the way in which they construct their in-house training, meeting the team's and the practice's needs.

Gallions Reach dental nurse Gemma Shove said: ‘I think the training is extremely worthwhile. I like the way it is broken down into easy to understand sections. The relaxed way it is presented to us allows me to understand the topic plus we get CPD and understand the CQC outcomes as well.’

Practices interested in setting up a similar system can gallions-reach@btconnect.com for a free guide.