The Nice Lady from the Dental Buying Group (a company who sell a variety of useful and well-presented services to us) came to see us a couple of weeks ago and gave us out annual cross infection training. One item mentioned was, that not only is the package of newly sterilised instruments to be date stamped 21 days hence (or 60 if a vacuum steriliser) BUT ALSO the nurse must initial the package, AND put another date stamp on said package with that day`s date on it - ie when packaged.

So, TWO dates (say, todays and 21 days hence) AND an initial.

I cannot see anything in the tortuous cross infection regs about this at all. It`s a stupid "regulation" if it exists, proving nothing. My staff are all doing it because they are worried rigid about being sued. Logic has gone clean out of the window with all this stuff. I have told them to stop it as it`s silly. I suspect there are other near mutinies in other practices now too.

Having pulled HTM to bits I could find no recommendation or rule which supports this. Denplan also know only of ONE date stamp to apply.


I emailed DBG with a "Complaint" and within 30 minutes a lady `phoned us up. It is NOT a ruling (and neither is the whole of HTM 01-05 a LAW or ACT but a huge RECOMMENDATION for which your hind will be tanned if you ignore any of it), but a "idea" for some practices who are, IMHO, so disorganised that their nurses don`t know whether to stamp today`s date or 21/60 days hence date. She said that some inspectors have picked up an "out of date" pack to be told by the nurses that "that`s the date they were sterilised". Some other nurses IN THE SAME PRACTICE think "that`s the use-by date".

Yeesh.

The way it was presented at the DBG training was as a thoroughgoing solid new rule, and my staff picked it up as just that. And started doing it without any prompting from me beasue they are way ahead of the curve.

DBG were very apologetic and said they would ensure that their trainers mentioned this as a possible aid to, er, well, stupidity I guess, rather than something to be slavishly followed.

It may well only take another few seconds to date stamp twice and initial EVERY PACK YOU USE, but all this time adds up, and takes my staff away from TREATING THE PATIENTS.

So there, that`s another falacy blown up. And the problem is dear reader, there is so much regulation and obfuscation from varying "authorities" that I now spend a part of each week trying to unpick it. Alexander the Great had the best idea. Draw your sword and cut through the whole lot of it.