Peer Review - What it is

Peer Review provides an opportunity for groups of dentists to get together to review aspects of practice. There are 4 to 8 dentists in a group. Typically, the project might consist of six 2½ hour meetings, where different topics are considered. Ideally, part or all of the project will be Practice based, but meetings can take place outside the Practice. The aim is to share experiences and identify areas in which changes can be made with the objective of improving the quality of service offered to patients. It is for dentists to take the initiative in contacting other dentists in other practices to form a Peer Review group. One dentist should act as the convenor (organiser) for the group. The convenor should accept responsibility for completing the report, which may be required by the PCT as part of a Clinical Governance check, and the GDC if verifiable CPD is being claimed. The original government document (2001) laying down the guidelines for Clinical Audit and Peer Review is available here. as a pdf file.

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