Updated 18 December 2020
We undertook a follow up focused inspection of Marais Associates Limited on 7 December 2020. This inspection was carried out to review in detail the actions taken by the registered provider to improve the quality of care following our comprehensive inspection on 17 October 2019 and to confirm that the practice was now meeting legal requirements.
Prior to our site visit we asked the provider to send us evidence of the improvements they had implemented. This allowed us to carry out a shorter site visit when we confirmed the required improvements to the service had been made.
The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Marais Associates Limited on 17 October 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 safe or well led care and was in breach of Regulation 12: Safe care and treatment, Regulation 17: Good governance Regulation 18: Staffing and Regulation 19: Fit and proper persons employed 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 Marais Associates Limited on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
As part of this inspection 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. We then inspect 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 breach we found at our inspection on 17 October 2019.
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 17 October 2019.
Background
Marais Associates Limited is in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. The practice provides private dental treatment to adults and children.
The practice is close to public transport services, located on the ground of floor of a purpose adapted building and has three treatment rooms.
The dental team includes the principal dentist, one associate dentist, one dental hygienist and one dental nurse.
The practice is owned by a company and as a condition of registration must have a person registered with the CQC as the registered manager. Registered managers have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run. The registered manager at Marais Associates Limited is the principal dentist.
The practice is open between:
8am and 5pm Mondays to Thursdays
Due to COVID-19 pandemic and in line with current guidelines only pre-booked appointments are available and there may be some alterations to opening times. To help keep people safe additional measures are in place when attending the practice.
Our key findings were:
- There were effective arrangements to monitor, maintain and test equipment.
- There were systems to ensure that staff had access to, understood and adhered to the practice policies and procedures.
- There were suitable arrangements for dealing with emergencies. Staff undertook appropriate training and all of the recommended emergency equipment and medicines were available.
- The provider had improved the systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff. Risk assessments were carried out to assess and manage risks in relation to fire, Legionella and infection prevention and control.
- The provider had suitable safeguarding processes. Staff undertook training and knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
- The staff recruitment procedures had been reviewed and were followed to ensure that all appropriate checks were carried out when new staff were employed to work at the practice.
- Improvements had been made to the governance and leadership arrangements. Audits, reviews and risk assessments were carried out and used as part of a system for continuous improvement.
- There were systems to monitor staff training and development needs.