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This book is an introduction to quality improvement methods for dentists and other oral health professionals. It includes audit, which will be familiar to many dental professionals, and sets it in the wider context of quality improvement theory and practice. The book provides sufficient information to allow dental practices to undertake clinical audit and quality improvement using current best practice.
The World Dental Federation has called for greater attention to quality in dentistry and has argued for the use of quality improvement methods. In the United Kingdom, the health services in Wales and Scotland have begun to produce materials to support dental quality improvement work. The Care Quality Commission in England has emphasized the requirement for audit in dental care. Dental Practices in Scotland are now required to undertake QI projects. In the USA, the American Dental Association now encourages audit and QI training guidance has been issued by the California Department of Public Health Office of Oral Health.
While there has been a worldwide movement towards an increased focus on quality improvement in dental care, there are no supporting books to educate the market on this topic. One existing book discusses a case example of the use of Lean in dental care, but there are no generic quality improvement books that we have been able to identify. The courses developed in England, Scotland and California are in response to a need, but no book is available to support teaching with specifically dental examples.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Patient Safety Chapter 3: Audit Chapter 4: Quality Improvement Chapter 5: Scoping a Problem Chapter 6: PDSA Cycles Chapter 7: Measurement Chapter 8: Embedding Change Chapter 9: Change at Scale Chapter 10: Conclusions Glossary
About the author
Dr Rhona Günhan. Associate Dentist. Rhona is an associate dentist at The Dental Centre, a mixed NHS and private practice in Saltcoats, Scotland. She has worked in several settings including corporate and independent practices ranging from inner-city to rural locations. Rhona started her clinical career as a dental hygienist/therapist and then completed dental vocational training in Glasgow, Scotland.
She graduated from the University of Dundee with a BDS and studied at the University of the Highlands and Islands for a postgraduate certificate in Quality Improvement in Healthcare, gaining a distinction. It was during this course that she developed a strong interest in quality improvement.
Dr Cameron Stark. Lecturer, University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland. Cameron is a Module Leader at the University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland, teaching on Patient Safety and healthcare quality improvement. He graduated in Medicine from the University of Glasgow, and holds Masters degrees from the University of Glasgow, and the University of Leicester, UK.
Cameron was a Consultant in Public Health Medicine with NHS Scotland for 29 years. He trained in Lean methods with the Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust. Cameron was the Quality Improvement Science lead for NHS Highland. Cameron has co-written or co-edited nine previous textbooks and has published over 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals.
