DISABILITY ACCESS AUDIT FOR DENTAL PRACTICES
The Equality Act 2010 brings together over 116 separate pieces of legislation into one single Act.
Combined, they make up a new Act that provides a legal framework to protect the rights of
individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all.
The Act simplifies, strengthens and harmonizes the current legislation to provide Britain with a new
discrimination law which protects individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a fair and more
equal society.
The nine main pieces of legislation that have merged are:
• The Equal Pay Act 1970
• The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
• The Race Relations Act 1976
• The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
• The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003
• The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
• The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006
• The Equality Act 2006, Part 2
The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007
CQC inspections have frequently resulted in requests to see evidence of how the Practice
has considered access and attempted to make improvements. It is recognised that it is not
always reasonably possible to make structural changes to buildings, occasionally such
changes are not permitted because of local planning rules. The CQC will usually accept
this provided practice owners have made suitable alternative arrangements for patients.
However the Act requires you to make these considerations and having completed a
suitable audit is a good first step.
Once you have answered the questions, you should consider what actions are required and
how and when you plan to achieve them. There is a SMART Action Plan section at the end
of this audit.