Updated 8 August 2018
We carried out this announced, focussed follow-up inspection on 2 July 2018.
The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.
We carried out an announced inspection on 8 May 2018 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. We focussed on two key questions in relation to care and treatment; is the care safe, and is the care well-led. At that time we judged that the care provided was safe. We judged the practice was not providing well-led care in accordance with Regulation 17 ‘good governance’ 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 My Dentist Langham Road on our website www.cqc.org.uk
We undertook a follow up focused inspection of My Dentist Langham Road on 2 July 2018. This inspection was carried out to review in detail the actions taken by the practice to improve the governance and the quality of care and to confirm that the practice was now meeting legal requirements.
Our findings were:
Are services well-led?
We found that this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Background
My Dentist – Langham Road is in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire and provides NHS and private treatment to adults and children.
The practice is located on a road set on a steep hill. There is level access to the downstairs reception and waiting area, suitable for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. There are two treatment rooms located on the ground floor. At the time of this inspection, one of these was out of use. The surgery in use is accessible for patients with limited mobility. A further treatment room is available on the first floor of the practice. Car parking is available outside the practice on the residential street.
The dental team includes two dentists and two dental nurses. The team is supported by a practice receptionist. The practice manager works between this practice and a second practice nearby.
The practice is owned by a corporate provider, Whitecross Dental Care Ltd. As a condition of registration, they 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 My Dentist Langham Road is the practice manager.
During the inspection we spoke with two dentists, one dental nurse and a practice manager. We spoke with the organisation’s lead regulatory officer, and an area development manager. The organisation has appointed a new practice manager and this staff member is currently undergoing training for this new role. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open from Monday to Friday 9am to 1pm and from 2pm to 5.30pm.
Our key findings were:
- The practice had implemented and improved their systems to help them manage risk.
- The practice had updated leadership arrangements.
- The practice staff could talk about and demonstrate infection control procedures which reflected published guidance. We did note that staff were not routinely using the washer disinfector machine, but were continuing to manually clean dental instruments.
- The practice had staff recruitment procedures in place that reflected regulatory requirements.
- Staff training for all staff had been reviewed and updated.
- The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
- The practice staff had suitable information governance arrangements.
- We saw some evidence of audit at the practice.
There were some areas where improvements could be made. The provider should:
- Review protective equipment for staff working in the decontamination room so that heavy duty rubber gloves are available for those who manually clean dental instruments.