No expectations

Every member of staff in every dental practice across the UK should already have an up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding, which should be evidenced by a verifiable training certificate. There are no exceptions to this rule. Whether you’re working as part of the admin team or you’re interacting with patients in the surgery, you share a responsibility to protect the welfare of all children and vulnerable adults who visit your premises.

Suspicious lesions

Safeguarding is not unique to the dental sector. In fact, there’s a duty to take responsibility for safeguarding placed on every profession that brings staff into contact with children and vulnerable adults in the UK. However, the safeguarding training requirements for each profession are usually different. The environment you work in and the way you interact with children and vulnerable adults at work will impact your ability to notice and respond to any safeguarding concerns. Therefore, you need to be trained to know exactly how to deal with incidents that might arise in your workplace.