Archived: Chingford Dental Care

We carried out this announced inspection on 7 September 2017 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 CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.

We told the NHS England area team and Healthwatch that we were inspecting the practice. They did not provide any information.

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

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it caring?

• Is it responsive to people’s needs?

• 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 that this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

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

Are services caring?

We found that this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

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

Are services well-led?

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

Background

Chingford Dental Care is located in Chingford in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The practice provides predominantly NHS and some private dental treatments to patients of all ages.

There is located on the first floor of a purpose adapted retail premises. The practice has two treatment rooms.

The dental team includes the principal dentist, one dental nurse and one receptionist. A dental hygienist works at the practice one day each week.

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.

We received feedback from 26 patients via CQC comment cards and speaking with patients. This information gave us a positive view of the practice.

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

The practice is open between 7.30am and 2pm on Mondays to Fridays.

Our key findings were:

• The practice was clean and generally well maintained.
• The practice had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• The appointment system met patients’ needs.
• The practice asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The practice dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
• The practice had infection control procedures. However there were limited systems for quality assurance of these procedures in line with published guidance.
• The practice had safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children. However policies and procedures were not kept up to date and staff had not undertaken relevant training.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. However some medicines and life-saving equipment as per current national guidelines were not available. The practice responded immediately to procure these pieces of equipment.
• The practice had some systems to help them assess and manage risk. However these were not always consistent or in line with current guidance and legislation.

We identified regulations the provider was not meeting.

They must:

• Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

Full details of the regulations the provider was not meeting are at the end of this report.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements.

They should:

• Review the training, learning and development needs of individual staff members at appropriate intervals and ensure an effective process is established for the on-going assessment, supervision and appraisal of all staff.

• Review the practice’s protocols for the use of rubber dam for root canal treatment taking into account guidelines issued by the British Endodontic Society.

• Review the protocols and procedures for use of X-ray equipment taking into account Guidance Notes for Dental Practitioners on the Safe Use of X-ray Equipment.