The Care Quality Commission
  • Dentist
  • Dentist

Archived: Local Care Direct - Huddersfield Royal Infirmary

Acre Street, Lindley, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD3 3EA (01484) 342462

Provided and run by:
Local Care Direct Limited

All Inspections

14 May 2013

During a routine inspection

During our visit to Local Care Direct (LCD) we spoke with the chief executive, company secretary, quality manager, registered manager, infection prevention and control lead, a dentist, a dental nurse, a receptionist and two people who used the service. We also spoke with the maxillo-facial unit (MFU) manager at the hospital, who had responsibility for the treatment room and decontamination processes.

We were told that Local Care Direct was a separate organisation to the NHS, and was contracted to the NHS to provide urgent dental care out of hours in West Yorkshire.

Patients requiring urgent dental treatment rang 111. They were offered an appointment time and place, according to their postcode and the severity of their symptoms.

The quality manager told us that demand currently outweighed the capacity of the services. This was due to an increase in the numbers of appointments being requested following the recent changeover from NHS Direct to 111.

The two patients we spoke with told us they were pleased with the booking system and time at which they had been given an appointment. One of them said 'It's a very good service' and the other said 'I only rang yesterday and I was given an appointment for today. Everyone's been really helpful.'

Staff we spoke with told us they were confident the service provided was good. They said they received training appropriate to their role and felt well-supported by their managers.