We announced
in September last year that we would be undertaking a six-month initial
inquiries pilot. The pilot was due to end in April but will now be extended for
a further six months to provide a larger data set for analysis and evaluation
of performance over a longer period.
As well as
expanding the pilot’s run-time, we will also be extending the criteria to
include any registrant who has had a concern raised about them more than 12
months ago and closed with no action before case examiner
stage.
We have seen
early positive signs from the pilot approach so far. Caseworkers have reported
that dental professionals have been responsive to requests for patient records
which is providing for significant reductions in the time it takes to close a
case.
By the end of
April, we had opened 127 cases in the initial inquiries pilot and completed an
assessment in 74 (58%) cases. Of these, just eight cases (10%) were referred to
case examiners for a decision and all remaining cases were closed.
The average
time taken to complete the assessment stage was 12 weeks, and the median 11
weeks. We are currently working to performance measures to assess cases within
30 weeks, so the early signs are positive.
We need the
continued cooperation of dental professionals for the approach to
succeed.
The pilot will
now run until the end of October 2024.
Theresa
Thorp, Executive Director, Regulation, said:
“The early
signs look positive from our fitness to practise pilot, so we are pleased to
extend and expand its scope. We know that investigations can be complex and
lengthy, which can have an impact on the health and wellbeing of those
involved.
“We are
committed to improving our processes within the current legislation and we hope
that, by working with others, we can continue to see improvements in timeliness
without affecting the quality of investigation outcomes.”
Find out more
about the initial inquiries pilot
