Updated 24 June 2020
We undertook a follow up desk-based inspection of Atherstone Dental Practice Partnership on 2 June 2020. 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.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Atherstone Dental Practice Partnership on 4 March 2020 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 Atherstone Dental Practice Partnership 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 (requirement notice only). 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 breach we found at our inspection on 4 March 2020.
Background
Atherstone Dental Practice Partnership is in Atherstone, Warwickshire and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.
The practice is situated above a commercial business and is accessed through a street side entrance leading immediately to a flight of stairs to the first floor. The practice informs all new patients wishing to register that they are not wheelchair accessible and they signpost patients that cannot manage the stairs to a nearby practice. Car parking including spaces for blue badge holders are available in local free of charge car parks within a five-minute walk from the practice.
The dental team includes four dentists, one qualified dental nurse, five trainee dental nurses and two receptionists. The team are supported by two practice managers and a head nurse who work across several practices within the group. 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 CQC 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 Atherstone Dental Practice Partnership is one of the practice managers.
The practice is open:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays from 8.30am to 5.30pm.
Thursdays from 8.30am to 7.30pm.
Saturdays from 9am to 2pm.
Our key findings were:
The provider had made improvements to the management of the service. These included completing a detailed fire risk assessment, updating and training staff in new incident reporting processes, improving infection control processes, improving staff understanding of checking emergency medical equipment and ensuring staff recruitment procedures were followed. The improvements provided a sound footing for the ongoing development of effective governance arrangements at the practice.