Although there is no regulatory requirement for primary care dental practices to have a business continuity plan in place, it is good practice so inspectors may ask about it on inspection.
Local commissioners of NHS dental services may include business continuity plans as part of their commissioning arrangements.
Developing a business continuity plan can help a practice identify and plan for anticipated risks to the delivery of the service (KLOE S5).
Business continuity plans
Arrangements should be responsive to incidents that have a short, medium or long term impact on the running of the practice. Types of scenarios to consider when developing a business continuity plan are – what would you do if:
- Significant numbers of staff could not come into work
- IT systems were disrupted significantly
- You could not use your premises for a period of time, for example if affected by a natural disaster like flooding
- Paper records were destroyed or damaged beyond use
- A supplier or contractor was unable to deliver essential goods or services.
The plan should include up–to–date emergency contact numbers for staff. Information within the plan must be accessible off-site.
Notifying CQC of a service disruption
Practices (providers) are legally required to inform us when there is a disruption to a service that may temporarily prevent them from delivering the regulated activity. See Dental mythbuster 11: Disruption to services – notifying CQC.