The General Dental Council (GDC) and Care Quality Commission (CQC) have issued a joint statement on life-support training for dental professionals in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Resuscitation Council (UK) recommends cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training for dental teams. Their document Quality Standards: Primary Dental Care (https://bit.ly/2JrPZfR) states: 'Dental practitioners and other dental healthcare staff should update their knowledge and skills in resuscitation at least annually'.
The GDC and CQC said: 'Together, we recognise that COVID-19 social distancing can make accessing accredited training difficult. This includes Basic Life Support (BLS) and Immediate Life Support (ILS).
'Providers and individual dental professionals should continue to make every effort to complete accredited BLS/ILS training annually. However, if this training is unavailable due to current COVID-19 restrictions, appropriate alternative provisions, in accordance with relevant government guidance, should be made, for example: e-learning, self-directed study, team-based scenario training in the clinical environment.
'Records and evidence of efforts made to access training and to update CPR knowledge and skills should be maintained.'