In this article I explain about Information Governance and why it is important for dentists and dental practice managers.

1. 20 Practice Management United Kingdom Edition July 16 - 22, 2012
Information Governance – If practices have any sense, they
should already have policies in
place to secure patient info with-
do we really need it?
out having to adhere to the IG
toolkit year on year. Grrr!”
Now, I’m no apologist for the
Department of Health but in help-
Amanda Atkin explains why Information Governance is ing dental practices with meeting
standards, complying with guid-
not just more red tape ance, contractual issues, various
governances, regulations and
A
practice manager I spoke her (perhaps foolishly) what was do we need to go to such lengths red tape already and surely the so on, I can perhaps give you a
with recently was obvious- wrong. She said: “It’s this Infor- to secure data and confidentiality? clinical issues are more impor- broader idea of where IG fits in.
ly having a bad day. I asked mation Governance thing. Why Dental practices are drowning in tant to secure good patient care.
You have probably heard of
Clinical Governance, which is a
way for organisations and indi-
viduals to continuously improve
the quality of health and ensure
that high standards of care are
Prove it to
provided.
There is also Research Gov-
ernance, which defines the good
Yourself -
practice guidelines necessary to
ensure health care research com-
plies with scientific and ethical
standards.
Whiter Teeth
Most recently, you will have
come across Information Gov-
ernance (IG). The Department
of Health states that Informa-
in 1 Minute
tion Governance provides a
framework to bring together
all the legal rules, guidance
and best practices that apply
to the handling of information,
just leave toothpaste on teeth for allowing:
up to 1 minute before brushing • Implementation of central
advice and guidance
• Compliance with the law
• Year-on-year improvements
At its heart, Information Gov-
We’re confident you’ll love ernance is about setting a high
standard for the handling of infor-
Beverly Hills Formula toothpaste mation and giving organisations
the tools to achieve that standard.
we offer 100% money back guarantee The Department of Health has
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developed clear requirements
for information handling to en-
sure that information is:
• Held securely and confidentially
• Obtained fairly and efficiently
• Recorded accurately and
reliably
• Used effectively and ethically
• Shared appropriately and
lawfully
The ultimate aim is to demon-
strate that an organisation can
be trusted to maintain the con-
fidentiality and security of per-
sonal information by helping
individuals to practice good in-
Beverly Hills Formula is delighted to announce that their Total Protection Whitening toothpaste is formation governance, be con-
proven to be less abrasive than some other leading brands of both whitening and regular toothpastes sistent in the way they handle
personal and corporate infor-
Need advice? mation and to avoid duplication
of effort. These should lead to
Ask the stain removal experts: improvements in:
www.beverlyhillsformula.com sales@beverlyhillsformula.com
• Information handling activities
DTUK_issue18_12-21.indd 20 11/07/2012 14:40:47

2. United Kingdom Edition July 16 - 22, 2012 Practice Management 21
• Patient and service user can be assured that policies and ry, to input evidence at this stage. I • Information Security Assurance may criticise this as overkill. It’s
confidence in care providers procedures are in place through- do agree that completion of the IG not for me to say but we do need
out the NHS for handling personal Toolkit was rather time-consum- Each of these is broken down to know how, what, to whom and
• Employee training and data. ing (I have first-hand experience into further elements. I have when we need to share informa-
development as a number of practices commis- heard complaints that some of tion. We also know that we need
Anyway, to me Information sioned me to help with this task). these elements are similar to the to be careful what we share,
Why now and why us, you may Governance and Clinical Gov- CQC standards and so duplicate where and when.
well ask. Well, back in November ernance go hand-in-hand – as we As you know, the IG Toolkit is the need for compliance. This
2007 HMRC lost computer discs manage our clinical issues, so we split into three sections: point has some validity. The big question for me is
containing the confidential details should manage our information. whether IG actually improves
of 25 million Child Benefit recipi- Although the IG Toolkit (www.igt. • Information Governance The IG Toolkit requires the patient care. My view is that clini-
ents. Around the same time, there connectingforhealth.nhs.uk) re- Management same attention to detail whether cal and information governance
were other cases of confidential or quired completion, only general being completed by a large NHS should both be treated with the
secret information being mislaid – comments were needed. It was • Confidentiality and Data organisation or a single-handed equal respect. DT
laptops left on trains and so on. only recommended, not mandato- Protection Assurance health care practitioner. Some
In response to the negative
publicity, the Cabinet Office was
charged with investigating the
CAD/CAM SYSTEMS | HANDPIECES | HYGIENE SYSTEMS | TREATMENT CENTRES | IMAGING SYSTEMS
storage of personal data by gov-
ernment departments. It came
CEREC Evolution, Naturally…
up with minimum standards. In
the NHS, the Information Gov-
ernance Assurance Programme
(IGAP) was initiated to review the
collection, storage and use of con-
fidential data against these stand-
ards. The review recommended
that an IG Assurance Framework
be put in place. Quoting from the
NHS Connecting for Health web-
site: The Information Governance
Framework for health and social
care is formed by those elements
of law and policy from which ap-
plicable information governance
standards are derived, and the
activities and roles which individu-
ally and collectively ensure that
these standards are clearly defined Upgrade your existing
CEREC ‘Redcam’
and met.
Importantly (in my view) this
framework determined that ulti-
mate responsibility for IG within to the ALL NEW
the NHS rested with the board of
each organisation. For NHS com-
missioners to assure themselves
v4.0 CEREC AC ‘Bluecam’
that providers/suppliers are meet-
ing and maintaining information
governance standards, they need
Generous Sirona Factory
a structured basis for auditing
such organisations. This is where Allowances of up to £23,000
when you trade in your old
the Information Governance
Statement of Compliance (IGSoC)
comes in and you’ll be familiar
with it from the IG Toolkit. Again
to quote from the NHS Connect-
CEREC 3 system.
Strictly Limited Offer
ing for Health website: By requir-
ing organisations to meet the in-
formation governance standards
incorporated into the terms and
conditions of the IG Assurance
Statement, NHS Connecting for
Health can ensure that safeguards
are in place to protect its services.
So you see, ‘more red tape’ for
you is really just the necessary
process by which people at the top
Call now for more details
Author info
Amanda Atkin runs
0845 071 5040
Atkinspire Ltd and
offers practices sup-
port, training and
or e-mail: Mark.Buckland@sironadental.co.uk
consultancy on infor-
mation governance,
www.sirona.com
CQC compliance, Sirona Dental Systems Ltd., Lakeside House,
National Minimum
Standards and HTM 1 Furzeground Way, Stockley Park,
01-05. Her bespoke service supports
practices as they embed the required
Heathrow, London UB11 1BD
standards within their daily rou-
tines ñ to ensure a high quality ser-
vice and patient safety at all times.
email: amanda@atkinspire.co.uk
www.atkinspire.co.uk
T he D e nt a l Co m p an y
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