22,000 dental patients recalled
Posted: October 29, 2015
Posted in: Dental Negligence Medical Negligence NHS Claims
In the biggest NHS recall ever recorded, 22,000 dental patients have been recalled, and some tested for HIV and hepatitis after Nottingham dentist, Desmond D’Mello, was secretly filmed by a colleague who suspected his hygiene practices. Mr D’Mello was found to have been reusing dirty gloves and failing to sterilise equipment in his practise.
This has been described as the “biggest recall in NHS history” and many of those recalled have threatened legal action as a result. The footage, which was filmed in secret, has been requested to be viewed as evidence by the legal teams of the recalled patients, 4526 of whom were tested for HIV and blood borne infections at the Daybrook Dental Practise in Nottingham.
Patient safety was seriously compromised
It has been confirmed that D’Mello was failing to decontaminate equipment in his surgery and that as a result, patient safety was seriously compromised. His actions were secretly filmed by an associate in June last year.
The General Dental Council have confirmed that D’Mello has been suspended pending an investigation. Meanwhile, lawyers are doing all they can to have a copy of the footage claiming “it’s rather inconvenient to patients to have to go to premises of NHS England and sit down comfortably to watch it” following news that the NHS is willing to give patients a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to see the recordings.
An NHS spokesperson has announced “Our investigations and actions with regard to Mr D’Mello and his fitness to practice are complete, and we have supplied any evidence we have to the General Dental Council for its own investigations.”
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