Updated 16 March 2018
We carried out this inspection to follow up concerns we originally identified during a comprehensive inspection at the practice on 3 October 2017 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions.
At a comprehensive inspection we always ask the following five questions to get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment:
- Is it safe?
- Is it effective?
- Is it caring?
- Is it responsive to people’s needs?
- Is it well-led?
When one or more of the five questions is 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 area where improvement was required.
At the previous comprehensive inspection, we found the registered provider was providing safe, effective, caring and responsive care in accordance with relevant regulations. We judged the practice was not providing well-led care in accordance with 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 Royston Dental Suite on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
During this inspection we spoke with the principal dentist, the practice manager and a dental nurse. We checked the decontamination room and viewed a range of paperwork in relation to the management of the practice.
Our findings were:
- The provider had made adequate improvement to put right most of the shortfalls we found at our previous inspection. The provider must ensure that the newly implemented improvements are embedded and sustained in the long- term in the practice.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:
- Review the practice’s protocols for the use of rubber dam for root canal treatment giving due regard to guidelines issued by the British Endodontic Society.
- Review and update all policies and procedures to check they are up to date, and follow national guidance and protocols.