Updated 23 December 2020
We undertook a follow up desk-based review of The Dental Touch on 7 December 2020. This review 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.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of The Dental Touch on 18 September 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 regulations 17 good governance 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 The Dental Touch 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 breaches we found at our inspection on 18 September 2019.
Background
The Dental Touch is located in Kingsdown, Bristol and provides private treatment for adults and children, and NHS treatment to children.
There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. There are short stay parking spaces, including designated disabled parking spaces available near the practice.
The dental team includes three dentists, one dental nurse, one dental hygienist, and one receptionist. The practice has three treatment rooms.
The practice is owned by a partnership 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 The Dental Touch is the senior partner.
During our review, we spoke with the registered manager and we looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
- Monday 9am to 6pm
- Tuesday and Thursday 8am to 4pm
- Wednesday 8am to 5pm
- Friday 8am to 2pm
Our key findings were:
- There were systems in place to ensure equipment was maintained in line with manufacturer’s instructions.
- The systems to manage fire safety had improved.
- Improvements had been made to ensure the equipment and medicines used for medical emergencies were safe to use and in date.
- The provider had a system in place to ensure prescriptions could be tracked and monitored.
- The provider had implemented systems for reviewing and investigating when things went wrong.
- The provider had procedures in place to ensure they met the Mental Capacity Act 2005 requirements when treating patients in their best interests.
- The provider had an effective system for ensuring suitable staff were recruited.