Ms Kylie Robb1
1Australian Dental Association (NSW Branch), St Leonards, Australia
Background:
A dental practitioner must comply with the Dental Board of Australia’s Guidelines on infection control. This project aimed to develop a risk based criteria framework to assess a practitioner’s Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) systems and processes. This project allowed for the provision of the highest standard of infection control continuing education and advice relevant to the needs of members of the Australian Dental Association (NSW Branch).
Method:
A review of 1050 continuing professional development (CPD) IPC course evaluation forms was conducted to determine key IPC areas participants have the most difficulty with. All core IPC documents practitioners are expected to understand and comply with were determined and any regulator and profession led compliance checklists were collated. All data was then consolidated to generate a risk based criteria framework which was then applied onto 101 dental practices to determine IPC compliance.
Results:
After the review of 101 dental practices, a total aggregate compliance score of 78% was determined and the 15 key IPC areas were able to be ranked from highest to lowest. This data assisted with the development of a full day IPC course focusing on the top five risks of each category.
Conclusion:
This project highlights how the identification of key IPC risks through data from member dentist practices can create an evidence based education framework to improve IPC standards and protect the health and safety of the Australian healthcare consumer.
Biography:
Kylie is the Australian Dental Association (NSW Branch) Practice Services Manager in Sydney and has been instrumental in advocating for best practice in infection control standards while promoting the benefits of accreditation outcomes to hundreds of practice teams. She is a member of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control’s Education and Professional Development Committee, has a Master of Health Services Management in Clinical Leadership from the University of Technology, among many achievements. Kylie is a popular speaker, routinely presenting Infection Control and accreditation courses across the country. Kylie is a 2019 member of the coveted Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America’s International Ambassador Program.