Announcements

The Dental Hygienists’ Association of Australia Inc. has emphasised the integrity, skills and professionalism of its members. The organisation has a proven investment in public oral health over nearly 40 years.

“Dental hygienists and oral health therapists play a major public health role to help people maintain good oral health and prevent avoidable disease,” said DHAA Inc. National President, Hellen Checker. “Our highly skilled members adhere to a strict code of ethics and undertake continuing professional training and development. Indeed, the National Law requires the same level of professional responsibility from dental hygienists and oral health therapists, and dental therapists as it does from dentists.”

DHAA Inc. was established in 1975 and represents dental hygienists and those oral health therapists engaged in the delivery of preventive oral health services. At present, neither private health funds nor Medicare properly recognise preventive dental services and dental hygienists do not have their own provider numbers. The end result is reduced uptake of much-needed preventive services by vulnerable groups, leading to costlier interventions at a later date.^[1]

Internationally, there is a shift towards preventive models of care, reducing the burden of disease and cost. Dental hygienists and oral health therapists work in various community settings such as aged care facilities and homeless shelters and DHAA Inc. supports the current review of the Scope of Practice Registration Standard. Our aim is to ensure that consumers can claim the costs of preventive health services provided by oral health professionals from their private health insurance or from Medicare, removing a significant barrier to access.

Media enquiries to DHAA Inc. National President, Hellen Checker by Clicking Here

The DHAA Inc. wishes to thank the members of the DVA Working Committee and the National Executive and Industrial Relations Advocate Katrina Murphy for their amazing effort in the past 14 months to ensure the future of oral Health professionals; Dental Hygienists, Oral Health Therapists and Dental Therapists and advocating for legislative change. The DHAA Inc. continues to work for our members’ future and reform in oral health policy on state and federal level
 
Thank you
Hellen Checker
National President DHAA Inc.
 
Please find attached: DENTAL BENEFITS AMENDMENT RULES 2012 (FED)This instrument amends the Dental Benefits Rules 2009 to index the fee for preventative dental check; enable oral health therapists to provide services on behalf of dental providers; and make minor technical amendments to update references and improve clarity. 

The determination and explanatory statement can be viewed at:
http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2012L02347

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) has finalised the resources that it developed to assist health service organisations to implement the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards. These resources include:   

1. Safety and Quality Improvement Guides 

The Commission has developed Safety and Quality Improvement Guides (the Guides) for each of the 10 NSQHS Standards. These Guides are designed to assist health service organisations to align their quality improvement programs using the framework of the NSQHS Standards. 

The Guides are primarily intended for use by people who are responsible for a part or whole of a health service organisation. 


2. Accreditation Workbooks 

Two Accreditation Workbooks, one each for hospitals and day procedure services, that focus on the processes of accreditation and: 
outline the key steps in an accreditation process 
provide examples of evidence that could be used to demonstrate the NSQHS Standards have been met. 

The Workbooks are designed for use by individuals in health service organisations who are responsible for coordinating accreditation processes. 

These resources are available to download from the Commission’s website at http://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/our-work/accreditation/nsqhss/safety-and-quality-improvement-guides-and-accreditation-workbooks/ 

A complete set of documents will be sent to all health service organisations in the coming weeks. 

Dental students are returning a smile to the face of Adelaide's homeless. More can be seen by clicking here or by clicking here