Updated 15 December 2021
We undertook a follow up focused inspection of South Cliff Dental Group – Margate on 25 November 2021. 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 had telephone support by a specialist dental adviser.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of South Cliff Dental Group - Margate on 20 October 2021 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 and well led care and was in breach of regulations 12 and 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 South Cliff Dental Group – Margate 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 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 20 October 2021.
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 20 October 2021.
Background
South Cliff Dental Group - Margate provides NHS and private treatment for adults and children.
There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces, including some for blue badge holders, are available near the practice.
The dental team includes three dentists, three dental nurses, three trainee dental nurses, a dental hygienist, the area manager, the practice manager and two receptionists. The practice has seven treatment rooms.
The practice is owned by a company and as a condition of registration must have a person registered with the Care Quality Commission 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 South Cliff Dental Group – Margate is a member of the head office team.
During the inspection we spoke with a dental nurse, the area manager 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 and Tuesday 10am to 7pm
- Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 8am to 5pm
Our key findings were:
- The practice appeared to be visibly clean. Repairs to decontamination room one had been completed
- The provider had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance. In relation to the storage of instruments.
- The provider had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
- The provider had staff recruitment procedures which reflected current legislation.
- The appointment system had been improved.
- The provider had effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement
There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:
- Take action to ensure the suitability of the premises and ensure all areas are fit for the purpose for which they are being used. Maintaining the safety of the gas appliances by an approved engineer.
- Take action to ensure audits of radiography are undertaken at regular intervals to improve the quality of the service. Practice should also ensure that, where appropriate, audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.