Beechcroft Dental Practice

We carried out this announced focused inspection on 25 May 2022 under section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We planned the inspection to check whether the registered practice 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.

We usually ask five key questions, however due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to reduce time spent on site, only the following three questions were asked:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it well-led?

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

Our findings were:

• The dental clinic appeared to be visibly clean and well-maintained.
• Safeguarding processes were in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• Infection control procedures reflected published guidance.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and staff took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The dental clinic had appropriate information governance arrangements in place.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• The provider had some systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff. However, we found some shortfalls in appropriately assessing and mitigating risks in relation to staff recruitment, electrical wiring testing, radiation protection, medicines management and record keeping.

Background

Beechcroft Dental Practice provides mostly NHS dental care and treatment for adults and children. There is ramped access to the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. There are ground floor treatment rooms and a fully accessible toilet. Car parking is available in front of the building.

The dental team includes four dentists, two hygienists, and six dental nurses. The practice has four treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with one dentist and three dental nurses. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9am to 5pm; on Tuesdays from 9am to 6pm, and on Fridays from 9am to 1pm.

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

Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care. Full details of the regulation the provider was not meeting are at the end of this report.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:

• Implement a system to ensure patient referrals to other dental or health care professionals are centrally monitored to ensure they are received in a timely manner and not lost.