Updated 28 June 2021
We undertook a follow up focused inspection of 27 April 2021 and 27 May 2021. The inspection was split over two visits due to exceptional circumstances. This inspection was carried out to review in detail the actions taken by the registered provider to improve the quality of care and to confirm that the practice was now meeting legal requirements.
The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Pelham Dental Studio on 18 July 2019 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 well led care and was in breach of regulations 13, 17, 19 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 Pelham Dental Studio on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
As part of this inspection we asked:
• Is it well-led?
When one or more of the five questions are not met we require the service to make improvements and send us an action plan requirement notice only. We then inspect again after a reasonable interval, focusing on the areas where improvement was required.
Our findings were:
Are services well-led?
We found this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
The provider had made improvements in relation to the regulatory breaches we found at our inspections on 27 April and 27 May 2021
Background
Pelham Dental studio is in Gravesend and provides NHS and private treatment for adults and children.
There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces, including some for blue badge holders, are available on the practice premises.
The dental team includes a dentist, and a dental nurse. The practice has one treatment room.
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 the dentist. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm
Friday 9am to 12pm
Our key findings were:
- Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
- The provider had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
- The provider had a safeguarding process. Staff, when questioned knew of their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children. We saw that all staff had completed safeguarding training.
- The provider had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
- The provider had effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement.
- The provider had suitable information governance arrangements.