Updated 26 September 2019
We undertook a focused inspection of Linden Lodge Dental Care on 3 September 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 Linden Lodge Dental Care on 12 February 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 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 Linden Lodge Dental Care on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
As part of this inspection we asked: Remove as appropriate:
• 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. They had made sufficient improvements to put right the shortfalls and had responded to the regulatory breach we found at our inspection on 12 February 2019.
Background
Linden Lodge Dental Care is in Clevedon and provides NHS and private treatment to adults and children.
There are steps into the practice with hand rails available for assistance. For people who use wheelchairs, and those with pushchairs, level access is provided by a portable ramp which can be erected for this purpose. Free on road car parking is available near the practice.
The dental team includes three dentists and a visiting dentist with special interest in orthodontics, four dental nurses one trainee dental nurse, one dental hygienist, a practice manager and one receptionist. The practice has four treatment rooms.
The practice is owned by a company 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 Linden Lodge Dental Care is the practice manager.
During the inspection we spoke with two dentists, two dental nurses, one trainee dental nurse, one receptionist, the practice manager and the provider. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
- Monday - Thursday 09:00am – 1.00pm and 2.00pm - 5.30pm
- Friday 09.00am – 1.00pm and 2.00pm - 4.00pm
- Closed at weekends
Our key findings were:
- The practice appeared clean and well maintained.
- The provider had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
- Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
- The provider had reviewed, and improved safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
- The practice had improved existing, and implemented new, systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
- The provider had reviewed and improved staff recruitment procedures to ensure all aspects of the practice policy and were met.
- Staff felt involved, supported, worked well as a team and had been involved in the recent changes to meet the regulatory breach.
- The provider had a registered manager in place who provided effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement.
- The provider had suitable information governance arrangements.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:
- Take action to ensure where appropriate, audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.
- Improve the practice arrangements for ensuring good governance and leadership are sustained when the practice manager is away.