CQC outcome for medicines management: An outsider's inside view

Abstract

Registered dental practices must achieve all the essential standards of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), whose outcome 9 is focused entirely on the way practices manage medicines. Experience with specialist dental services and other healthcare professions shows that focused assessments with a CQC-experienced pharmacist can deliver quality patient outcomes from safe and effective medicines use, and improve service efficiency, even when resources are limited. Assessments, either online or on-site, can identify areas for improvement in a practice's current medicines management activity and are an efficient way of achieving effective, safe and legal CQC-compliant activity. The provision of training and CPD sessions, and the joint development of robust governance arrangements and supporting documents including Patient Group Directions (PGDs) and protocols, help to embed activities within everyday practice and provide opportunities for staff development. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.