Raising concerns – you and your colleagues

Aim

This article aims to enable dental nurses to:

Objectives

On completion of this article, the reader will be able to:

This article relates to GDC development outcome D.

The majority of dental professionals consistently work to the highest clinical and ethical standards. In rare cases where a dental professional commits a criminal act, breaks a legal obligation or endangers health, safety or the environment, or covers up any of these, colleagues have an ethical obligation not to collude by turning a blind eye.

At some point in their career, many dental professionals will encounter a situation that leads them to consider whether to speak out and express their concerns about the behaviour of colleagues or standards within the clinical environment. Every member of the dental team has an ethical duty to put patients' interests first. However, to challenge a colleague or employer is a difficult decision to make. This article looks at the sorts of situations in which dental nurses should raise concerns, when and how to raise concerns, and where and how to access support and guidance.