Mereside Dental Practice

We carried out this announced focused inspection on 2 August 2023 under section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions.

We planned the inspection to check whether the registered practice was meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations.

The inspection was led by a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspector who was supported by a specialist dental advisor.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment the following 3 questions were asked:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it well-led?

These questions form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.

Our findings were:

• The practice had infection control procedures in place; these did not fully reflect published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with medical emergencies however not all recommended medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• Improvements could be made to the systems for managing risks associated with the carrying out of regulated activities.
• Safeguarding processes were in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The practice had staff recruitment procedures in place; all required documents to support this were not available for inspection.
• Staff provided preventive care and told us they supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system did not work efficiently to respond to patients’ needs.
• The frequency of appointments was agreed between the dentist and the patient, giving due regard to National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
• Leadership was not effective. Evidence from our inspection showed the practice could not demonstrate a culture of continuous improvement.
• Complaints received by the practice were acknowledged and were dealt with, but the cause of some problems continued to arise.
• The practice had information governance arrangements.

Background

Mereside Dental Practice is in Alsager, Cheshire and provides NHS and some private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

There is step free access to the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces, including dedicated parking for disabled people, are available near the practice. The practice has made reasonable adjustments to support patients with access requirements.

The dental team includes the principal dentist and 1 dental nurse. The practice has 2 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with the principal dentist and the dental nurse. We looked at practice policies, procedures and other records to assess how the service is managed.

The practice is open: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9am to 5.30pm, Wednesday from 11am to 5.30pm.

We identified regulations the provider was not complying with. They must:

• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
• Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

Full details of the regulations the provider was not meeting are at the end of this report.