Updated 13 February 2024
We undertook a follow up focused inspection of Dental Surgery 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 Dental Surgery on 9 June 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 safe, effective and well-led care and was in breach of regulations 12,13,17,18 and 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
An announced focused inspection was carried out on 7 November 2023 to review the actions taken by the provider in response to our findings of 9 June 2023. At this follow up inspection we found that while some improvements had been made, the provider was still not providing safe and well-led care and remained in breach of regulations 12, 17 and 19 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 Dental Surgery dental practice 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 areas where improvement was required.
As part of this inspection we asked:
- Is it safe?
- Is it well-led?
Our findings were:
Are services safe?
We found this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
The provider had made improvements in relation to the regulatory breaches we found at our inspection on 7 November 2023.
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 breaches we found at our inspection on 7 November 2023.
Background
Dental Surgery is in Colindale, in the London Borough of Barnet and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.
The practice is on the first floor of a high street building and is not accessible to people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces are available near the practice.
The dental team includes 1 principal dentist and 1 trainee dental nurse. The practice has 1 treatment room.
During the inspection we spoke with the principal dentist. We looked at practice policies, procedures and other records to assess how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Thursday from 9am to 12pm.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:
- Improve the security of NHS prescription pads in the practice and ensure there are systems in place to track and monitor their use.
- Take action to ensure the guidance provided by the College of General Dentistry is followed when completing dental care records. In particular, ensure that patient care records include caries, oral cancer and periodontal risk assessment and recall based on risk.
- Take action to ensure that patient assessments are in compliance with current legislation and -follow relevant nationally recognised evidence-based guidance. In particular, improve the principal dentist`s awareness of the most recent guidance in relation to the classification of periodontal diseases.