Updated 8 January 2021
We undertook a focused follow up inspection of Park Dental on 3 December 2020. This inspection 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.
This inspection was undertaken by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Park Dental on 9 July 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, effective or well led care. The provider was in breach of regulations; 12 safe care and treatment, 13 safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment and 19 fit and proper persons employed of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and we served warning notices. The provider was also in breach of regulations 17 good governance and 18 staffing of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and we served requirement notices.
We returned to Park Dental on 22 January 2020 to review the three breaches of regulations where we had served warning notices. We found some improvements had been made and some areas that still required improvement within regulations 12 safe care and treatment and 19 fit and proper persons employed. The provider was found compliant with regulation 13 safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment.
This focused inspection reviewed on all the outstanding requirement notice breaches, which included the following regulations; 12 safe care and treatment, 17 good governance, 18 staffing and 19 fit and proper persons employed.
You can read our report of that inspection by selecting the 'all reports' link for Park Dental on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
As part of this inspection we asked:
• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• 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 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 22 January 2020.
Are services effective?
We found this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
The provider had made improvements in relation to the regulatory breach we found at our inspection on 9 July 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 breach we found at our inspection on 9 July 2019.
Background
Park dental is in Horfield, Bristol and provides private treatment for adults and children.
There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces are available near the practice.
The dental team includes one dentist, one dental nurse, one dental hygienist, an administrator 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, the dental nurse/receptionist, an agency nurse and administrator. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
- Monday and Thursday 9am to 4:30pm
Our key findings were:
- The provider had effective procedures in place to ensure they were meeting current infection control guidelines and legislation.
- There were systems in place to ensure new staff were recruited safely and employment procedures met current legislation requirements, although these need to be consistently followed.
- There were systems in place to monitor the risks associated with legionella.
- The provider had effective systems in place to ensure staff received appropriate role related training, annual appraisals and a structured induction process.
- The provider had an effective system to monitor and ensure equipment and medicines used for medical emergencies were safe to use.
- There were quality assurance processes to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service.
- A system to seek and learn from patient feedback was in the process of being implemented to enable the provider to learn and improve upon the service provided.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:
- Improve the practice's recruitment policy and procedures to ensure accurate, complete and detailed records are maintained for all staff.
- Implement a system to ensure patient referrals to other dental or health care professionals are centrally monitored to ensure they are received in a timely manner and not lost.
- Implement processes and systems for seeking and learning from patient feedback with a view to monitoring and improving the quality of the service.
- Improve the practice’s arrangements for ensuring good governance and leadership are sustained in the longer term.