Updated 4 March 2024
We undertook a follow up focused inspection of Drakes Dental Care - Ribbleton on 2 February 2024. This inspection was carried out to review 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 advisor.
We had previously undertaken a comprehensive inspection of Drakes Dental Care - Ribbleton on 9 May 2023 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 Drakes Dental Care - Ribbleton on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
When 1 or more of the 5 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 area where improvement was required.
As part of this inspection we asked:
- Is it well-led?
Our findings were:
Are services well-led?
We found this practice was not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
The provider had made insufficient improvements to put right the shortfalls and had not responded to the regulatory breach we found at our inspection on 9 May 2023.
Background
Drakes Dental Care - Ribbleton is part of Smart Dental, a dental group provider. The practice is in Preston in Lancashire and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.
There is ramped access to the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. The practice is located close to local transport routes and car parking spaces are available near the practice. The practice has made reasonable adjustments to support patients with access requirements.
The dental team includes 5 dentists, 6 dental nurses (including 3 trainees), 1 dental therapist, a practice manager and 2 receptionists. The practice has 5 treatment rooms.
During the inspection we spoke with 4 dentists, 1 dental nurse, and the practice manager. The practice was supported during the inspection by the group operation lead and a practice manager from a sister practice. We looked at practice policies, procedures and other records to assess how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
Monday to Friday from 9am to 5.30pm
We identified regulations the provider was not meeting. They must:
Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.
Full details of the regulation the provider was not meeting are at the end of this report.