Updated 16 December 2019
We undertook a focused inspection of Crawcrook Dental Practice on 21 November 2019. 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.
The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported remotely by a specialist dental adviser.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Crawcrook Dental Practice on 14 May 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 well led care and was in breach of regulation 17 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 Crawcrook Dental Practice on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
As part of this inspection we asked:
• 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 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 14 May 2019.
Background
Crawcrook Dental Practice is in Ryton and provides NHS and private treatment to adults and children.
There is level access to the practice and car parking spaces are available near-by.
The dental team includes the principal dentist, six associate dentists, six dental nurses (three of whom are trainees) and four receptionists. In addition, the practice manager and deputy practice manager oversee the day to day running of the practice. The practice has three treatment rooms, one of which is on the ground floor.
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 both practice managers and the senior dental nurse. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
Monday: 9am - 7pm
Tuesday to Thursday: 9am - 5.30pm
Friday: 9am - 4.30pm
Our key findings were:
- The practice had effective leadership.
- Systems to help manage risk to patients and staff had improved.
- Infection prevention and control procedures were in line with national guidance.
- The provider had improved their staff recruitment procedures, in particular for ensuring clinical members of staff were risk assessed if their immunity status to Hepatitis B was unknown.
- Prescription pads were recorded in line with national guidance.
- The provider had acted to improve the security of the clinical waste bin.
- All hazardous substances were risk assessed and stored appropriately.
- Recommendations from the fire risk assessment had been implemented.
- Complaints were responded to, and dealt with, efficiently.
- Staff training was monitored by way of a training matrix.
- The glucagon (medicine used for a diabetic emergency) was stored in the fridge and the temperature was monitored and logged every day.