Archived: PS Photay and Associates - Picardy Road

We carried out this announced inspection on 13 April 2021 and 6 May 2021 under section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We planned the inspection to follow up on information of concern we had received and to check whether the registered provider was meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations.

The inspection was led by a Care Quality Commission, (CQC), inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we asked the following questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it well-led?

These questions form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.

Following our initial visit on 13 April 2021 we identified a number of serious concerns, which led us to commence urgent enforcement action. The provider appealed our decision and as part of the appeals process, we re-visited the practice on 6 May 2021. At this time, we observed that a number of improvements had been made since our initial visit. However, we found several areas where improvements had not been made or fully implemented.

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found this practice was not providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found this practice was providing not well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

PS Photay and Associates – Picardy Road is located in Belvedere, in the London Borough of Bexley. The practice provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

The dental team includes the principal dentist, two associate dentists, one trainee dental nurse and a practice manager. The practice has four treatment rooms.

The practice is owned by a partnership and as a condition of registration must have a person registered with the CQC as the registered manager. Registered managers have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run. The registered manager at PS Photay and Associates is the one of the registered partners.

During the visit on 13 April 2021 we spoke with the practice manager, one dental nurse and the principal dentist. On 6 May 2021 we spoke with the registered manager, the principal dentist and the practice manager. During both visits we looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm

Saturday 9am to 1pm

Our key findings were:

• There were ineffective systems to ensure that the practice is clean and well-maintained.
• There were ineffective infection control procedures to reduce the risk of transmission of infections including the transmission of Covid-19 viruses.
• There were ineffective systems to deal with medical emergencies. Medicines and life-saving equipment were not available in accordance with Resuscitation Council UK Guidelines 2021.
• There were ineffective systems to assess and manage risk to patients and staff.
• There were ineffective recruitment procedures to ensure that all checks were carried out when staff were employed to work at the practice.
• There were ineffective systems to ensure that complete and accurate dental records were maintained.
• There were ineffective leadership and a lack of culture for continuous improvement.
• There were ineffective governance systems to monitor the day-to-day running of the practice.

We identified regulations the provider was not complying with. They must:

• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
• Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.