Updated 20 March 2020
We carried out this announced inspection on 3 March 2020 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 provider 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 adviser.
To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:
• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?
These questions form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.
Our findings were:
Are services safe?
We found this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services effective?
We found this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services caring?
We found this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services responsive?
We found this practice was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services well-led?
We found this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Background
Mint Dental Ambleside is in the Lake District village of Ambleside and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.
There is level access to the practice for people who use walking aids and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces, including dedicated parking for people with disabilities, are available in the pay and display care park near the practice.
The dental team includes three dentists and two dental nurses. The practice has two treatment rooms set over two floors. The ground floor treatment room is accessible for people with walking aids but would not accommodate access sufficient for a wheelchair.
The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist there. They have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run.
On the day of inspection, we collected one CQC comment card filled in by a patient. Feedback received was highly positive.
During the inspection we spoke with two associate dentists and the principal dentist and the two dental nurses. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5pm.
Our key findings were:
- The practice appeared to be visibly 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. Some clear face masks and airways for adults and children were missing from the emergency medical kit. These were ordered by the provider on the day of our inspection.
- The provider had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
- The provider had safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
- The provider had staff recruitment procedures which reflected current legislation.
- The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
- Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
- Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
- Systems for referring patients to other specialists could be improved by enabling the tracking of referrals.
- The appointment system took account of patients’ needs.
- The provider had effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement.
- Staff felt involved and supported and worked as a team.
- The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
- The provider dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
- The provider had information governance arrangements.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:
- Take action to ensure the availability of equipment in the practice to manage medical emergencies taking into account the guidelines issued by the Resuscitation Council (UK) and the General Dental Council. Also, that the list to check these items against is updated to reflect all equipment required is available.
- Implement a system to ensure patient referrals to other dental or health care professionals are centrally monitored to ensure they are received in a timely manner and not lost.
- Develop systems to ensure an effective process is established for timely training for staff. This should include provision of training in sepsis awareness for staff in order that they can effectively triage patients for appointments.