We carried out this announced inspection on 1 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. The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.
To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:
• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?
These questions form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.
Our findings were:
Are services safe?
We found that this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services effective?
We found that this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services caring?
We found that this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services responsive?
We found that this practice was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Are services well-led?
We found that this practice was not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Background
Harpenden Dental Centre is situated in Hertfordshire and provides private treatment to patients of all ages.
There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. A small number of car parking spaces are available in front of the practice; further parking is available on the road.
The dental team includes seven dentists, three dental nurses, three dental hygienists, a practice manager and one receptionist. 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 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 Harpenden Dental Centre is the practice manager.
On the day of inspection we collected 38 CQC comment cards filled in by patients and spoke with two other patients.
During the inspection we spoke with three dentists, two dental nurses 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 8am to 5.30pm
Tuesday 8am to 7pm
Wednesday 8am to 5.30pm
Thursday 8am to 5.30pm
Friday 8am to 5pm
Saturdays 9am to 1pm
Our key findings were:
- The practice appeared clean and well maintained.
- The practice had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance, although the practice could not provide evidence of certain required tests.
- Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
- The practice had some systems to help them manage risk. We noted that some required risk assessments had not been completed to an appropriate standard. For example, Fire risk and Legionella risk.
- The practice staff had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children.
- The practice had staff recruitment procedures in place. Following the inspection they implemented a recruitment policy to reflect their procedure.
- The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
- Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
- The practice was providing preventive care and supporting patients to ensure better oral health.
- The appointment system met patients’ needs.
- Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
- The practice asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
- The practice staff dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
- The practice staff had suitable information governance arrangements.
We identified regulations the provider was not meeting. They must:
- Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care
Full details of the regulation/s the provider was/is not meeting are at the end of this report.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:
- Review the practice’s infection control procedures and protocols taking into account the guidelines issued by the Department of Health in the Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices, and having regard to The Health and Social Care Act 2008: ‘Code of Practice about the prevention and control of infections and related guidance.
- Review the practice's policy for the control and storage of substances hazardous to health identified by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, to ensure risk assessments are undertaken.
- Review the practice’s protocols for conscious sedation; taking into account the guidelines published by The Intercollegiate Advisory Committee on Sedation in Dentistry in the document 'Standards for Conscious Sedation in the Provision of Dental Care 2015.