ESTE DENT LIMITED

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

We found this practice was not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

The provider had made insufficient improvements to put right the shortfalls and had not responded to the regulatory breach we found at our inspection on 25 June 2026. We have told the provider to take action. We will be following up on our concerns to ensure the provider has made the required improvements.

Find out what we look at when we assess this area in our information about our new Single assessment framework.

The judgement for Shared direction and culture is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Well-led key question.

The judgement for Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Well-led key question.

The judgement for Freedom to speak up is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Well-led key question.

The judgement for Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Well-led key question.

At the inspection on 3 September 2026, we found the practice had made some improvements to comply with the regulation, but further improvements were required to ensure full compliance with the regulation.

The provider had not yet addressed their governance system which remained ineffective. Policies had not been reviewed or updated. However, the provider had developed a plan to update them and ensure that staff review them once the updates are completed.

Processes for receiving and acting on safety alerts remained ineffective. The practice principal was not registered to receive relevant Patient Safety Alerts, recalls and Rapid Response Reports issued from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and through the Central Alerting System (CAS).

The provider told us they had registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) but had not yet received the certificate. We will be following this up to ensure this is in place.

Systems and processes were not yet embedded or operating effectively. Whilst some areas requiring improvement were acted on immediately, further work was required to implement and embed changes across the practice.

Improvements had been made to the practice's risk management arrangements to ensure that risks arising from the provision of regulated activities were effectively identified, assessed, monitored, and mitigated. In particular, we saw improvements to the management of medical emergency equipment and medicines, documentation relating to staff training, and documented evidence of staff immunity to Hepatitis B.

The practice had begun to implement systems and processes for learning, quality assurance and continuous improvement. Radiography and antimicrobial prescribing audits were in progress. As the practice was small, additional time was required to collect a sufficient number of radiographs and prescriptions for auditing. Record-keeping audits were not conducted. This was discussed with the provider, who confirmed that these will be implemented going forward. The disability access audit was not specific to the dental practice.

The judgement for Partnerships and communities is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Well-led key question.

The judgement for Learning, improvement and innovation is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Well-led key question.