A new online solution, which gives dentist practices and laboratories the ability to conduct compulsory waste audits without the need for third-party on-site visits, has been launched by leading independent healthcare waste management company Anenta.
Designed to end the need for tedious on-site reviews by external auditors, Anenta’s solution simplifies the clinical waste pre-acceptance and duty of care audit process, saving time and dramatically cutting cost for audits that are required to enable dental practices to operate.
The service, which can be accessed from a desktop as well as a range of mobile devices, takes the user through the audit process, covering duty of care and waste pre-acceptance in one go. Taking around 40 minutes to complete, the remote solution streamlines a process that can take up to six days, consuming valuable staff and management time.
Costing just £200 per site, the Anenta remote audit saves between £300 and £800 on physical audits. It also identifies and records details of training undertaken which is linked to duty of care, keeping a record for compliance purposes. This process identifies and records if correct waste management policies are in place, and documents whether hazardous consignment notes are kept for three years – a compliance requirement.
The easy-to-use solution registers details of all internal waste containers, including their location and content, and whether these are correctly labeled, using uploaded images as a point of reference. Multiple site assessments can also be undertaken, reducing costs further. Here, colleagues complete sections of the waste management audit relevant to their site.
Once done, Anenta assesses the audit and provides a report with advisory notes and actions to be taken by the practice or laboratory in relation to duty of care or the clinical waste pre-acceptance audit process. This covers missing policies, segregation requirements, and areas where action needs to be taken to comply with regulations. This enables dental practices to quickly and easily address aspects of the audit that will enable them to continue operating without disruption.
Kim Ormsby, Assistant Director at Anenta, commented on the new dental practice and laboratory service, saying: “Dentists and dental laboratories have a duty of care to their staff within the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
“Those dental practices that fail to demonstrate proper measures may face enforcement action by the Care Quality Commission. Dentists also have an obligation to complete clinical waste pre-acceptance audits, without which hazardous waste such as dental amalgam, needles and blades, biomedical waste, and X-ray fixer and developer cannot legally be removed from site. Without this being in place, clinics and practices could face the prospect of being temporarily closed until the audit is completed: a costly and potentially reputationally damaging outcome.”
Kim added: “Understandably, dentists are looking to streamline their admin, yet they still have audit responsibilities. It is for this reason that we have developed the Anenta remote audit service allowing practices to fulfill their duties faster and more cost-effectively than has previously been possible. We view this as a win, win outcome and a transformational solution for the dental sector.”
All audits undertaken using the Anenta remote solution are stored electronically, are readily accessible by the dental practice, and can be used to track remediable actions for compliance purposes and CQC checks. To gain access to the Audit app, dental practices and laboratories need to set up an account with Anenta: visit www.anentawaste.com or call 03301222143.
