The Campaign for Administrative Standards and Professional Education for Receptionists and Practice Managers (CASPER) is calling for support.

In a statement from Glenys Bridges and Jane Armitage, CASPER says that ‘when it comes to the non-clinical aspects of dental care there is a massive black hole in terms of training and ongoing development requirements’.

The statement describes dentistry's progress from the Dentist Act 1921 to the past ten years when the curricular framework was introduced to enable members of the dental team to gain registrable qualifications and increase the scope of their contribution to patient care. It says that to consistently achieve an excellent dental experience for patients in the UK, a range of quality management skills are required, such as planning services, auditing performance, creating, implementing and evaluating SMART objectives and gathering feedback on clinical and non-clinical aspects of care.

‘Without formal education these skills will be absent from dental teams’ skill sets, therefore patients' experiences will suffer.

CASPER has gathered high profile dental professionals who believe that qualifications for practice mangers and receptionists are the next logical step in the progression of the dental profession and are urging the GDC and CQC to formalise a non-clinical curricular framework.

CASPER invites individuals who support their campaign to email them at casper.campaign@gmail.com with their name and the following statement:

‘I agree that the dental profession needs definitive non-clinical educational and CPD standards for dental managers and administrators.’