The Care Quality Commission
  • Dentist
  • Dentist

Archived: Southdown Dental Practice

112 Southdown Road, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 1QQ

Provided and run by:
South Down Dental Care Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile
Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

All Inspections

7 May 2013

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We visited the South down Dental Practice, on 7 May 2013, People attending the practice told us that the staff were all 'helpful and accommodating' and that they liked the surgery. We saw that all patients were greeted by reception staff and the surgery waiting area contained information relating to oral hygiene and practice emergency appointment information. We found that staff were a lot happier with the changes that had been brought in following our last inspection and staff told us that the practice was a lot 'better than it was'.

During our inspection we found that the practice had made many of the changes identified from our last inspection and that overall they had greatly improved. We did however identify some minor concerns which have been highlighted in this report. We are confident that the provider will action what had been identified and we will continue to monitor their progress to ensure all these improvements are correctly imbedded into the practice.

14 December 2012

During an inspection in response to concerns

People told us that they were happy with the service. They said that they were told about their treatments, the options available and were told how much it was expected to cost. They said that the staff were nice and kind and that they were treated with respect and that their dignity was promoted. They said that all their treatment had been conducted in the dental surgery and the door was kept closed.

However, we found that the surgery had not been managed in a manner that promoted the health and welfare of the people who used it. We found the area of the practice where the decontamination of instruments was carried out to be visibly dirty. The practice did not follow the guidelines on how to prevent the spread of infection in a manner that would have ensured the safety of the person by promoting good infection control. Clinical waste was not stored in a secure waste bin.

We found that practice had not been well managed and that there were no systems in place to audit current practice. Staff told us that they did not know who had responsibility for infection control. We were told that there was not a sufficient supply of surgical instruments in place for the dentist to use.