The Care Quality Commission
  • Dentist
  • Dentist

Hitchin Dental Centre

49 Ninesprings Way, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG4 9NR (01462) 641111

Provided and run by:
Dr. Michael Greenstein

All Inspections

17 September 2021

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We undertook a focused inspection of Hitchin Dental Centre on 17 September 2021. This was carried out to review the actions taken by the registered provider to improve the quality of care and to confirm that the practice was now meeting legal requirements.

We had previously undertaken a comprehensive inspection 4 May 2021 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 in accordance with the relevant regulations 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 Hitchin Dental Centre on our website www.cqc.org.uk.

When one or more of the five questions are not met we require the service to make improvements and send us an action plan. We then inspect again after a reasonable interval, focusing on the areas where improvement was required.

As part of this inspection we asked:

  • Is it well-led?

Background

Hitchin Dental Centre is a well-established practice that offers both private and NHS treatment to patients. It is based in Hitchin and has four treatment rooms. The dental team includes four dentists, five dental nurses, a dental hygienist and reception staff. The practice is a referral centre for endodontics, prosthodontics and periodontics.

The practice is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5.30pm.

The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist. 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.

On the day of inspection, we spoke the practice manager. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

Our findings were:

  • We found this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Key findings

The provider had made good improvements in relation to the regulatory breach we found at our previous inspection. These must now be embedded in the practice and sustained in the long-term.

04 May 2021

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out this announced inspection on 4 May 2021under 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.

As part of this inspection we asked the following questions

• 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 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 well-led?

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

Background

Hitchin Dental Centre is a well-established practice that offers both private and NHS treatment to patients. It is based in Hitchin has four treatment rooms. The dental team includes four dentists, five dental nurses, a hygienist and reception staff. The practice is a referral centre for endodontics, prosthodontics and periodontics, and one dentist has a special interest in removeable dentures.

The practice is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5.30pm.

The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist. 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.

On the day of inspection, we spoke with two dentists and two dental nurses. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

Our key findings were:

  • The practice had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
  • The practice had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
  • Staff felt respected, supported and valued.
  • Systems for obtaining patient feedback about the service were good
  • The practice appeared to be visibly clean and well-maintained.
  • Comprehensive procedures had been implemented to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
  • Recruitment procedures did not ensure that appropriate checks had been completed prior to new staff starting work
  • Clinicians did not follow the guidance provided by the Faculty of General Dental Practice when completing patient dental care records.
  • Medicines and prescription management did not follow nationally recommended guidance.

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.

18 July 2013

During a routine inspection

On our inspection we looked at four people's records and saw that in all cases these were completed consistently. We spoke with two people who used the service. They were positive about their experiences. One person said, "..the most relaxing dental experience."

We looked at how the service safeguarded people from abuse and saw that there were procedures in place with contact numbers for the relevant outside agencies. We spoke with four staff members who were aware of how to protect people.

We found that the premises were clean and hygienic. There were systems in place to ensure infection control procedures were adhered to.

We looked at four staff files and saw that the staff regularly up dated their clinical professional development. Staff supervision and appraisal had commenced in July 2013. Staff we spoke with told us they felt supported.

The service had some systems in place for monitoring and assessing the quality of service provision. We saw changes were made following staff meetings and suggestions from people who used the service.