We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 18 March 2016 to ask the practice the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?
Our findings were:
Our findings were:
Are services safe?
We found that this practice was not providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services effective?
We found that this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services caring?
We found that this practice was providing caring service in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services responsive?
We found that this practice was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services well-led?
We found that this practice was not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Background
Pimlico dental care is located in the London Borough of Westminster and provides NHS and private dental services.
The practice comprises of a dentist and a nurse.
The premises consist of one treatment room, a decontamination room and a waiting area.
The principal dentist is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the practice is run.
During the inspection we received feedback from 20 patients. The patients who provided feedback were positive about the care and treatment they received at the practice. They told us they were involved in all aspects of their care and found the staff to be friendly and helpful and they were treated with dignity and respect.
Our key findings were:
- The practice had suitable processes around reporting and discussion of incidents.
- Patients told us that staff were caring and treated them with dignity and respect.
- The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.
- The practice had a procedure for handling and responding to complaints, which were displayed and available to patients.
- There was equipment for staff to undertake their duties but there was limited evidence of regular maintenance of equipment such as that used for decontamination of used instruments and for radiography.
- The provider had not undertaken risk assessments to assess risks such as those arising from spread of Legionella or from radiation.
- Appropriate governance arrangements were not in place for the smooth running of the practice.
- Clinical audits were not being undertaken appropriately and were not contributing to improvements in quality of care delivery.
We identified regulations that were not being met and the provider must:
- Ensure the practice undertakes a Legionella risk assessment and implements the required actions giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Department of Health - Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices and The Health and Social Care Act 2008: ‘Code of Practice about the prevention and control of infections and related guidance’.
- Ensure that the practice is in compliance with its legal obligations under Ionising Radiation Regulations (IRR) 99 and Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations (IRMER) 2000.
- Ensure regular maintence of equipment in line with manufacturers’ instructions and relevant guidelines.
- Ensure staff are up to date with their mandatory training and their Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
- Ensure an effective system is established to assess, monitor and mitigate the various risks arising from undertaking of the regulated activities.
- Ensure systems are in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service such as undertaking regular audits of various aspects of the service and ensuring that where appropriate audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:
- Review the practice’s staff training ensuring it covers both children and adults and all staff are trained to an appropriate level for their role and aware of their responsibilities.
- Review it’s responsibilities as regards to the Control of Substance Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 and, ensure all documentation is up to date and staff understand how to minimise risks associated with the use of and handling of these substances.
- Review availability of equipment to manage medical emergencies giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Resuscitation Council (UK), and the General Dental Council (GDC) standards for the dental team.
- Review the protocol for completing accurate, complete and detailed records relating to employment of staff.
- Review its audit protocols to document learning points that are shared with all relevant staff and ensure that the resulting improvements can be demonstrated as part of the audit process.