More post offices for dental providers’ CRB checks

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has worked with the Post Office to increase the number of post offices available to process Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) disclosures for providers of dental services.

The way health services are regulated is changing and as part of that change, providers of dental services need to be registered with the CQC by April next year.

The new system of registration will bring all the different elements of the health and adult social services sectors under a single system, which requires providers to meet new essential standards of quality and safety.

This regulation, as directed by the Health and Social Care Act 2008, means all providers of dental services and their registered managers now require an enhanced CRB check if they don’t already have one.

Many dental providers with an NHS contract should already have an enhanced CRB disclosure, approved by the primary care trust they have a contract with. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of the dental industry has an NHS contract. In these cases, no new CRB disclosure will be needed.

However, providers without a criminal records check now need to present proof of identification at a designated post office in England to obtain their mandatory check.

This can currently be carried out at 27 crown post offices where this service is offered but from 1 November, this network will be expanded to 100 post offices able to offer this service.

CQC director, Linda Hutchinson, said: ‘We have been working closely with The Post Office for some time to increase the number of branches available to dental providers obtaining a CRB check.

‘The majority of providers of NHS dental services are already required to have a CRB check countersigned by their local primary care trust and they just need to declare this on their application form to CQC. These dentists will not need to obtain new checks.

‘Obtaining a CRB check is without doubt in the best interests of patients and their safety.

‘CQC appreciates that applying for registration can be challenging as it’s the first time the dental industry has been subject to this form of regulation. We have been working with the dental sector for some time and have just completed a series of local events where we talked to local providers and listened and responded to concerns and queries.

For more information and a full list of post offices go to www.cqc.org.uk/crb.