Archived: Dental Care Centre

We carried out this announced inspection on 14 September 2021 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 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 usually ask five key questions, however due to the ongoing 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:

Are services safe?

We found this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

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

Background

Dental Care Centre is in Teddington, in the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, and provides NHS treatment to children and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

The practice is located close to public transport links and car parking spaces are available near the practice.

The dental team includes five dentists, one hygienist, two dental nurses, one dental nurse/practice manager, one dental nurse/receptionist and one receptionist. The practice has four treatment rooms.

The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist there. They have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run.

During the inspection we spoke with two dentists, a dental nurse, the receptionist and the dental nurse/practice manager. 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 5.30pm.

Our key findings were:

• The practice appeared to be visibly clean and well-maintained.
• The provider had safeguarding processes in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The provider had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance; however improvements were needed to ensure the infection prevention and control audit was carried out on a six-monthly basis as required.
• Improvements were needed to the Information Governance Policy to take into account the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies and appropriate life-saving equipment was available. However, the risks of not having repeat doses of the medicine used to treat epileptic seizures had not been suitably considered and mitigated.
• Improvements were needed to the systems to help the provider manage risks to patients and staff.
• The provider had staff recruitment procedures which reflected current legislation. However, improvements were needed to ensure important checks were carried out at the time of recruitment.
• The staff carried out some ‘highly recommended’ training as per the General Dental Council professional standards. Improvements were needed to the provider’s monitoring system to enable them to assure themselves that training was up-to-date and undertaken at the required intervals.

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.

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

• Implement audits for prescribing of antibiotic medicines taking into account the guidance provided by the Faculty of General Dental Practice.
• Improve the practice protocols regarding auditing patient dental care records to check that necessary information is recorded.