Updated 28 February 2022
We undertook a follow up focused inspection of West Malling Dental Practice and Implant Centre on 06 January 2022. This inspection was carried out to review in detail 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 adviser.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of West Malling Dental Practice and Implant Centre on 19 November 2021 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 and well led care and was in breach of regulations 12 and 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 West Malling Dental Practice and Implant Centre on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
As part of this inspection we asked:
• Is it safe?
• Is it well-led?
When one or more of the five 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.
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 19 November 2021.
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 19 November 2021.
Background
West Malling Dental Practice and Implant Centre is in West Malling Kent and provides private treatment for adults and children.
There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces, including some for blue badge holders, are available near the practice.
The dental team includes four dentists, two dental nurses, four trainee dental nurses, two also cover reception, a dental hygienist, and a receptionist. The practice has three treatment rooms.
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.
During the inspection we spoke with two dentists, two dental nurses , a receptionist and the practice manager. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
Monday and Thursday 8.30am to 5.30pm
Tuesday and Wednesday 8.30am to 7pm
Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm
Saturday 9am to 1pm
Our key findings were:
- The practice appeared to be visibly clean, improvements were made to areas of the practice.
- The provider had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
- Staff knew how to deal with emergencies andall staff were trained. All the required appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment was available.
- The provider had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
- The provider had sufficient safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
- The provider had staff recruitment procedures which reflected current legislation.
- The provider had information governance arrangements.