Italian Doctors Medical Clinic

We carried out this announced inspection on 18 December 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 Care Quality Commission (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 providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

Centre Point Dental Clinic is in the London Borough of Camden and provides private treatment to adults.

The dental team includes a dental nurse and a dentist. The practice has two treatment rooms.

The practice is owned by an organisation, 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 Centre Point Dental Clinic is the dentist.

On the day of this inspection, we collected 11 CQC comment cards filled in by patients.

During the inspection we spoke with the dentist and dental nurse. We checked practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open at the following times:

Monday to Friday: 9am – 7pm

Saturday: 9am – 1pm

Our key findings were:

• The practice had infection control procedures and appeared clean and well maintained.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The practice had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
• The provider had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• Staff were providing preventive care and supporting patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system took account of patients’ needs.
• The provider had effective leadership and culture of continuous improvement.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The provider dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
• The provider had suitable information governance arrangements.
• Dental care records were stored securely, though they improvements could be made to ensure relevant details were recorded suitably. .
• The practice was not able to demonstrate that all staff had adequate immunity against vaccine preventable infectious diseases.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:

• Review the practice’s protocols for ensuring that all clinical staff have adequate immunity against vaccine preventable infectious diseases.
• Review the practice's protocols for completion of dental care records taking into account guidance provided by the Faculty of General Dental Practice regarding clinical examinations and record keeping.

Shortly after the inspection the provide took steps to begin to address the above areas for improvement.