Speaking Up for Quality Improvement

Speaking Up for Quality Improvement supports P 2.3. For dental nurses this means recognising and acting on service or device concerns within your scope of practice to protect patients and support safe care.

Quality responsibility covers both services and devices. Dental nurses may not author policies, but they use equipment, prepare materials, record traceability details, spot device faults early and notice when a process threatens patient safety.

What to notice in practice

• Quality improvement: ensure agreed changes are checked and completed rather than left unresolved.
• Power imbalance: be clear about what you can address, what to escalate and who makes the decision.
• Clear phrases: ask what the patient or colleague needs next, then hand over or escalate concisely.
• Patient protection: prioritise actions that keep patients safe and maintain continuity of care.
• Local escalation: follow your practice's route for reporting concerns that affect care or governance.

Relevant sources include governance guidance, MHRA device reporting, CQC safety and governance expectations, and GDC scope documents. Act within your scope but do not normalise poor-quality equipment, missing batch details, unclear maintenance, or unsafe workarounds.

Good practice is practical and visible: prepare equipment and materials correctly, listen to patients and colleagues, confirm understanding, hand over information clearly, and report recurring problems so the practice can learn from them.

Research and system context

Taking responsibility for quality means checking, recording and escalating service or device concerns before they affect patients.