Updated 24 June 2021
We carried out this announced inspection on 18 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 concerns we identified when we inspected the practice on 18 December 2020, 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 CQC specialist dental adviser.
We undertook a focused inspection of Wickford Dental Practice on 18 December 2020 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We found the registered provider was not providing safe or well led care and was in breach of Regulation 12: Safe care and treatment and Regulation 17: Good governance of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can read our report of that inspection by selecting the 'all reports' link for Wickford Dental Practice on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
To consider the concerns we received 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.
Our findings were:
Are services safe?
We found this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services well-led?
We found this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Background
Wickford Dental Practice is in Wickford, in Essex and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.
There is level access to the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces, including dedicated parking for people with disabilities, are available at the front .
The practice is owned by a company 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 Wickford Dental Practice is the one of the operations managers.
The practice is open:
Mondays between 8am and 8pm.
Tuesdays to Thursdays between 8am and 6pm and between 9am and 1pm on Saturdays.
During the inspection we spoke with the business manager, the registered manager, the practice manager, dentists, dental nurses and reception staff. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
Our key findings were:
- The provider had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
- There were systems in place to reduce the risks associated with the transmission of COVID -19.
- The provider had systems to help them manage risks to patients and staff.
- The provider had staff recruitment procedures which reflected current legislation.
- The provider had effective leadership to support a culture of openness and continuous improvement.
- There were effective governance systems to monitor the day-to-day running of the practice.