Introduction All dental practices in England must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC inspects approximately 10% of practices each year to ensure premises are safe. Compliance with infection prevention and control is assessed during inspections.Aims The aim of this study was to identify common areas of non-compliance in infection prevention and control within general dental practice in England.Materials and methods The CQC inspection reports, for all practices found not safe following an inspection, were thematically analysed for non-compliance specifically in infection prevention and control.Results Between April 2016 and March 2019, 88 practices were deemed not safe. The most common areas of non-compliance were the management of risks associated with legionella, audit and the validation of decontamination equipment.Discussion Infection prevention and control compliance requires good management and leadership. Other factors are also thought to influence compliance including cost and morality.Conclusions Identification of recurrent infection prevention and control compliance issues highlights relevant areas to all CQC dental registrants that merit greater focus.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the British Dental Association.