Updated 24 March 2021
We undertook a follow up desk-based review of Concord Dental Practice on 8 February 2021. This 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 review was led by a CQC inspector who had remote access to a specialist dental adviser.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Concord Dental Practice on 25 February 2020 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 safe or well led care and was in breach of Regulations 12, 17 and 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 Concord Dental Practice on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
As part of this review we asked:
• Is it safe?
• 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. We then inspect or review again after a reasonable interval, focusing on the areas where improvement was required.
Our findings were:
Are services safe?
We found this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
The provider had made improvements in relation to the regulatory breaches we found at our inspection on 25 February 2020.
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 inspection on 25 February 2020.
Background
Concord Dental Practice is in Dukinfield and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.
There is level access to the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces, including dedicated parking for people with disabilities, are available directly outside the practice.
The dental team includes two dentists, a practice manager, three dental nurses and a receptionist. The practice has two 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 the principal dentist and the practice manager. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
Monday-Wednesday: 9am to 1 pm; 2pm to 5:30 pm
Thursday: 9am to 1 pm; 2pm to 6:30 pm
Friday: 9am to 1 pm; 1:30pm to 3:30 pm
Our key findings were:
- Improvements had been made to the infection prevention and control procedures.
- The systems to identify and manage risk to patients and staff from sharps and hazardous substances had been reviewed and improved.
- Recommendations made in the fire safety risk assessment report had been acted on.
- The staff recruitment procedures reflected current legislation. Essential checks were carried out before staff employed on a permanent or temporary basis started work.
- The provider had information governance arrangements. A privacy impact assessment had been completed for the closed-circuit television system (CCTV) and computer passwords were held securely.
- The provider ensured that staff completed training relevant to their role.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:
- The practice should ensure that, where appropriate, audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.