Archived: Sharples Dental Practice

We undertook a follow up focused inspection of Sharples Dental Practice on 7 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 by a specialist dental adviser.

We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Sharples Dental Practice on 9 January 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 12 and 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. A focused follow up inspection was carried out on 27 June 2019. The provider had made some improvements, these were insufficient to put right the shortfalls we found at our inspection on 9 January 2019. You can read our report of that inspection by selecting the 'all reports' link for Sharples Dental Practice on our website www.cqc.org.uk.

As part of this inspection we asked:

• Is it well-led?

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 inspections on 9 January 2019 and 27 June 2019.

Background

Sharples Dental Practice is in Bolton and provides NHS and private treatment to adults and children.

A portable ramp is provided for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. On street parking is available near the practice.

The dental team includes three dentists, four dental nurses (one of whom also manages the practice) and a dental hygiene therapist. 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 Sharples Dental Practice is one of the partners.

During the inspection we spoke with one dentist 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 to Friday 8.45am to 12.15pm and 1.45pm to 5.15pm

Our key findings were:

• Emergency medicines and life-saving equipment were in line with Resuscitation Council UK standards.
• Improvements had been made to the treatment environment and processes to audit standards of infection prevention and control.
• The practice had established systems to ensure staff were up to date with highly recommended training and development.
• The provider had implemented thorough staff recruitment procedures.
• Systems were in place to audit dental care records and radiographic quality.
• The provider had effective leadership and culture of continuous improvement.