Background
Assistance dogs
Assistance dogs are trained to support disabled people and people with certain medical conditions. They are highly trained to carry out a variety of practical tasks for people and to support their independence and confidence.
Disabled people who use assistance dogs often experience discrimination that prevents them from doing everyday things. The Equality Act 2010 ensures disabled people have the same rights to services as everyone else. Healthcare professionals have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments to allow a disabled person to access their services. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people with an assistance dog.
See guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Assistance dogs: a guide for all businesses.
Indemnity organisations are advising dental practices to update their policies to ensure that patients can attend appointments with their assistance dogs.
Therapy dogs
A therapy dog is trained to provide affection, comfort and support to people in settings such as hospitals, care homes and schools. These dogs are often pets that belong to a volunteer who visits establishments or the community to provide comfort.
Therapy dogs are used in animal assisted therapy (AAT) or animal assisted intervention (AAI) to improve people’s mental, physical, social and emotional functioning. A therapy dog may help anxious patients to overcome fear and make it easier to receive necessary dental care.
However, therapy dogs do not have the same legal privileges as assistance dogs. Whereas assistance dogs are trained to assist specific patients with their day-to-day physical needs, therapy dogs are trained to interact with all kinds of people, not just their handlers.
In the dental practice
In healthcare settings such as a dental practice, an assistance dog or therapy dog may not be permitted in certain areas because of risks to infection control. In these cases, the patient will need alternative support and the practice will need to find a suitable location for the assistance or therapy dog to be left safely.
Practices also need to consider workplace hazards that could affect assistance or therapy dogs, such as sharps injuries.
When we inspect
We expect providers to consider the risks associated with assistance and therapy dogs. The following is some proposed best practice for assistance and therapy dogs:
- An assistance or therapy dog should be a breed associated with a low tendency to trigger allergies. If a member of staff or any person visiting the practice is allergic to, or has a phobia of dogs, the practice should take reasonable steps to minimise that person’s exposure to the dog. However, neither are valid reasons for not allowing an assistance or therapy dog to enter the practice.
- It may be difficult to detect whether an assistance or therapy dog has a sharps injury. For sharps injuries to patients or staff, best practice is to bleed the wound gently under running water, wash with soap and water, dry the wound then protect with a bandage. You can use a similar response for assistance or therapy dogs. Depending on the severity of the injury, the dog’s owner may choose to consult with a vet.
- Assistance dogs are highly trained and will not react to dropped instruments or equipment. A therapy dog should also be trained not to react to dropped instruments or equipment. The therapy dog should be trained not to pick up anything off the floor in the dental surgery. The dog owner must pay close attention to its dog's behaviour during the dental session.
- Pets As Therapy can assess dogs for their suitability to be a therapy dog.