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NICE rejection by health minister for dental infection control
17th Jun 2010
The government is refusing to refer HTM01-05 decontamination guidelines for dental surgeries to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
In reply to a written question from Conservative MP George Hollingbery, health minister Simon Burns said the evidence and measures proposed had been adequately scrutinised and there would be no added benefit from such a referral.
In January, the BDA claimed there was a need for clarity and suggested NICE would be the most appropriate body to carry out an evaluation.
Speaking at the time, Susie Sanderson, chair of the BDA executive board, said: ‘Given the impact of the standards demanded by HTM01-05, it is not unreasonable for the BDA and individual dentists to seek reassurance that its scientific foundations are firm.
She added: ‘The Department of Health's delay first in providing the scientific references, then in the gradation of those references and now its rejection of an objective external analysis, do nothing to offer that reassurance.'
MP George Hollingbery asked the health secretary whether he plans to refer his department's document on cross-infection control to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence for the purpose of checking the (a) evidence base and (b) cost-benefit analysis contained in that document.
But health minister Mr Simon Burns said: ‘The document HTM 01-05 contains departmental guidance on the decontamination of dental instruments. The evidence and measures within the document were scrutinised by a number of means in order to ensure validity and proportionality to the assessment of risks.
'Advice was taken from an expert working group, the Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee (SEAC) and the Advisory Committee on Decontamination Science and Technology (ACDST previously ESAC-Pr) who supported the general principle of the need to improve local decontamination within dentistry.
'In this light, we are not persuaded that there would be added benefit in referral to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.'
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