Updated 8 December 2021
We carried out this announced inspection on 11 November 2021 under section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We planned the inspection to follow up on concerns we identified during our inspection of the service on 26 August 2021 and to check whether the registered provider was meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations.
The inspection was led by a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Sparklysmile on 26 August 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 or well led care and was in breach of regulations 12 – safe care and treatment, 17 – Good governance, 18 – Staffing and 19 - Requirements relating to workers 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 Sparklysmile 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 (requirement notice only). 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 26 August 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 26 August 2021.
Background
Sparklysmile is in the London Borough of Lewisham and provides private dental care and treatment for adults and children.
The dental team includes the principal dentist, one associate dentist, three visiting dentists, four dental hygienists and three dental nurses. The clinical team are supported by two receptionists, one administrative assistant and the practice manager. The practice has four treatment rooms.
The practice is owned by a company and as a condition of registration must have a person registered with the CQC 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 Sparklysmile is the principal dentist.
During the inspection we spoke with the principal dentist, the associate dentist, two dental nurses, two receptionists and the practice manager. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice opening times are:
8.30am – 5.30pm Mondays to Fridays
Our key findings were:
- Infection prevention and control procedures were followed in accordance with national guidance.
- The provider had arrangements to ensure that equipment was tested, serviced and maintained in accordance with relevant guidelines.
- Emergency equipment and medicines were available in accordance with the Resuscitation Council UK 2021 guidelines.
- The provider had systems to help them manage risks to patients.
- There were systems to monitor staff training and learning needs.
- The provider had effective recruitment procedures.
- The provider had governance and leadership systems to monitor the day to day running of the practice and to support a culture of openness and continuous improvement.
- Improvements had been made to ensure that detailed dental care records were maintained.