Newsletter: December 2017

From the Chief Executive

Message from the Chair

Season’s greetings to all as we prepare for the end of what has been a very busy year for all of us at the Dental Council. We are making significant progress on major areas of work that we identified as strategic priorities for 2020—projects that have the potential to really improve how we work with practitioners in the future.

Personally, I have been delighted to see the progress made on our recertification review, both in terms of the work that has gone on at Council and secretariat level, and in terms of the engagement we have seen from practitioners. In total, more than 500 people attended our forums and webinars. I really appreciated the readiness of people to engage and the interest demonstrated by attendees. The level of discussion appears to have been appreciated by people who filled out the evaluation forms and people certainly valued the opportunity not just to hear from the Council, but also to hear the varying views of their colleagues.

Council staff are now compiling nearly 250 submissions and feedback from the forms into a format that will make it easier for the Council to review. The next phase of the review will see us developing some alternative recertification models for consideration. At this stage we are still working towards a second round of consultation in the first half of next year.

Another big milestone this year was the introduction of the oral health therapy scope of practice. This came into effect on 1 November—450 practitioners transferred into the new scope. We are pleased to recognise these practitioners and their unique skillset in this way. We expect our application to have oral health therapy recognised as a profession under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act approved within the next few months.

It has now been two years since the Standards Framework for Oral Health Practitioners was introduced and we have now completed the review and update of nearly all the practice standards. I am particularly pleased to have seen the progress of this area of work, identified as a strategic priority in 2015. This framework is fundamental to the Dental Council’s primary purpose—protecting the safety of the public through setting and upholding the standards expected of oral health practitioners. This year we have reviewed three practice standards—professional boundaries, patient records and informed consent. The next two practice standards scheduled for review are the advertising and cultural competence practice standards. Cultural competence in particular is anticipated to be a significant piece of work that we are unlikely to start until after the recertification review is concluded.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to two people who have made significant contributions to the Council in recent years. Lyndie Foster Page ended her term on the Council in July. Lyndie served on the Council between 2011 and 2017. During her six years she has substantially contributed to the work of numerous Council projects and chaired the Continuing Professional Development Advisory Committee and the Oral Health Therapy Working Group. She has also been a member of the joint Australian Dental Council/ Dental Council (NZ) Accreditation Committee. We will miss Lyndie at the Council, but are pleased that she will continue to serve as a New Zealand member on the Australian Dental Council/ Dental Council (NZ) Accreditation Committee.

I would also like to recognise Robert Love who has been our senior dental academic representative on the joint Australian Dental Council/Dental Council (NZ) Accreditation Committee since 2005 and stood down this year. Robert is a past member and Chair of the Dental Council and is now Dean and Head of School of Dentistry and Oral Health at Griffith University. His strong understanding of the dental regulatory system and of academic standards and systems has been invaluable and I would like to thank Robert for his ongoing support and assistance to the Dental Council.

Finally, I would like to thank the Dental Council secretariat staff who have worked through a very challenging year. After the Kaikoura earthquake in late 2016, our staff needed to vacate our usual offices at 80 The Terrace in early 2017 at short notice. Staff then spent a period working from temporary facilities, and from home, and eventually relocated at our current office in Willis Street. Through all of this disruption and uncertainty business as usual continued, including an annual practising certificate renewal round for approximately half of our registered practitioners. In the latter half of 2017 the staff have been working through our IT systems upgrade which is a large and complex project requiring a great deal of work to ensure the final product delivers everything you expect and the staff need. I greatly appreciate the support and the commitment that our staff give to the Council, you as practitioners and to the public on a daily basis.

I also appreciate the support that many of you provide to the work of Council with so many of our functions. Practitioners provide a great deal of input to the work of Council as members of committees, as practitioners with expertise in subject areas and through your submissions and feedback.

I wish you all the joy of Christmas and a restful and safe New Year.

Robin Whyman

Chair

From the Chief Executive

Greetings from the Chief Executive

I hope you are all enjoying the festive season and looking forward to a well-earned rest over the Christmas break.

In reflecting on the year, I am proud of the work that has been achieved and excited by the improvements that we will see as some of our key projects come to fruition over the next couple of years. It’s fair to say it has been a challenging year, in part due to the size and complexity of some of the projects we are working on, and not least due to our building displacement.

This building displacement saw us moving out of 80 The Terrace in February as a result of damage sustained during the Kaikoura earthquakes. This move caused a significant extra workload in terms of finding new temporary premises while also working with the owners of 80 The Terrace to ensure we understand the implications of the repairs that are being done to that building and the implications for our lease.

Our one-year lease in our temporary premises on Willis Street will expire in April—at this stage, where we move is still to be determined, but we will advise practitioners as soon as this has been confirmed.

Our IT project has been a huge piece of work for us this year and we provide an update later in this newsletter.

The Council has decided to extend the timeframe to ensure we get this important project right before we go live with our online practitioner portal. We had anticipated the online portal would be available for practitioners to use in early 2018, but we have now deferred the go-live date until after the next APC round for oral health practitioners in April.

This is primarily because our building displacement is yet to be resolved. The April deadline for moving out of our current temporary premises will mean the secretariat team will be managing a relocation, an APC round and the financial end of year in March. The Council considered launching a new IT system at the same time was not feasible, particularly given the small size of the secretariat team.

This means the next APC round for all non-dentist practitioners in March 2018 will be a paper-based process, and we will be mailing renewal forms out in February as normal. We appreciate your patience—this system is going to be a fantastic improvement for practitioners once it is complete.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our work this year—we thank you all for your commitment and support.

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and safe holiday season.

Marie Warner
Chief Executive

IT project update

As most will be aware, our IT system redesign is a significant project, encompassing an entirely new framework for the public register, the back office registry, an online practitioner portal and our financial management system.

We have made excellent progress recently on the system build and have been doing rigorous testing of the functionality developed so far. There has been significant work in recent weeks on the online applications that both registered practitioners and new registration applicants will use in the future. We are excited to see these taking shape and we are working to ensure the best possible user experience through streamlining as many of our requirements and processes as possible.

While we had anticipated the online portal would be available for practitioners to use in early 2018, at its December meeting, the Council made the decision to defer the go-live date until after the next APC round for oral health practitioners in April.

This is primarily because our building displacement is yet to be resolved. We anticipate moving from the current premises in Willis Street in April—which will mean the secretariat team will be managing a relocation, an APC round and the financial end of year. The Council considered launching a new IT system at the same time was not feasible, particularly given the small size of the secretariat team.

Postponing the delivery of the online portal until later in 2018 will help us ensure a great user experience and that we get the best from our new system.

The key implications of this are:

• The March 2018 APC cycle for dental therapists, dental hygienists, oral health therapists, orthodontic auxiliaries, clinical and dental technicians will be a paper-based process and these practitioners will receive renewal forms in the post in mid-February.
  • Large employers who have previously made bulk payments to cover the APC fees of their employees will be able to do so during the March APC round. This is expected to be the last time this option will be available as our new system does not have the capacity to receive bulk payments.
• We now anticipate the first online renewal process will be the August 2018 APC cycle for dentists and dental specialists.

Recertification review update

We are close to completing the summary report on the first phase of consultation in our recertification review. This has been a major piece of work—summarising nearly 250 formal submissions as well as informal feedback provided at our 10 forums and two webinars. We have sifted through hundreds of different opinions and insights and brought them into one report that identifies key themes, issues and ideas.

The report is still in draft form but we expect to have it complete and available to practitioners after the holiday season.

Once this report is complete, the next step is starting to develop some draft framework options for consideration. Using the key areas identified for improvement through the process so far, we will develop framework models that could potentially address these. We are not looking for a single answer at this stage—we hope to identify several potential improvements and then consult with practitioners and other stakeholders on these in the first half of next year.

Use of the title "Nurse"

The Council has become aware of some practice websites listing "practice nurses", or similar, as part of their staff. While in some cases these practitioners may be entitled to call themselves nurses, some are not.

We remind practitioners that the title "nurse" is protected under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 in the same way that oral health practitioner titles such as "dentist" or "dental hygienist" are.

This means no one can call themselves a nurse, or imply that they are a nurse, unless they are registered with the Nursing Council and hold a current practising certificate issued by the Nursing Council.

We ask all practitioners to ensure anyone within their practice who uses the title "nurse" as part of their job title is legally entitled to do so. Please amend any incorrect listings on your website or other advertising material.

Practitioner’s corner - Allergic reactions to dental products

The Dental Council has recently received several notifications or queries relating to allergic reactions from patients. The Ministry of Health has also been notified and provided us with the following statement:

“The Ministry of Health has been advised of two cases of allergic reactions after the application of a Casein Phospho Peptide (CPP)-containing fluoride paste by oral health practitioners. One of the reactions was severe. Both patients were known to have an allergy to milk products but in neither case was the patient/parent consulted about the application of the paste, which is not recommended for use in those with a milk allergy.

Oral health practitioners should be familiar with what products they are using and of any precautions advised by the manufacturers. Practitioners have a responsibility to check the patient’s medical history prior to commencing treatment and to confirm that any products or equipment used will not cause life threatening reactions.

Also of note is that the only fluoride varnish product currently approved in New Zealand for the prevention of dental caries is Colgate’s Duraphat Dental Varnish 5% w/v in the 10 mL and 30 mL multidose tubes. Please refer to the Medsafe website to identify those medicines approved for use in New Zealand.”

The key points for oral health practitioners:

• ensure you have an up to date medical history for your patient and review it at each visit
• know what is in the materials you are using—you should keep data sheets for all products
• when using new products, carefully familiarise yourself with warnings about adverse reactions
• use products approved by MedSafe.

Please also see this article from Allergy New Zealand.