• Dentist
  • Dentist

Archived: Bell House Dental Practice

7 New Church Street, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8DS (01666) 503788

Provided and run by:
Mr. Robert Carter

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

All Inspections

5 July 2023

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We undertook a follow up focused inspection of Bell House Dental Practice on 5 July 2023.

This inspection was carried out to review the actions taken by the registered provider to improve the quality of care and to confirm that the practice was now meeting legal requirements. The inspection was carried out by a CQC inspector.

We had previously undertaken an inspection of Bell House Dental Practice on 28 March 2023 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 well-led care and was in breach of regulation 17 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 for Bell House Dental Practice on our website www.cqc.org.uk.

When 1 or more of the 5 questions are not met, we require the service to make improvements and send us an action plan.

We then inspect again after a reasonable interval, focusing on the areas where improvement was required.

As part of this inspection, we asked:

  • Is it well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services well-led?

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

The provider had made significant improvements, however a number of the improvements required remained outstanding which meant they had not fully responded to the regulatory breach we found at our inspection on 28 March 2023.

Background

Bell House Dental Practice is situated in Tetbury and provides private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

There is step free access to the practice, via a ramp for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs.

Car parking spaces, including dedicated parking for disabled people, are available near the practice. The practice has made reasonable adjustments to support patients with access requirements.

The dental team includes 1 dentist, 2 dental nurses and a dental hygienist.

The practice has 2 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with the provider.

We looked at practice policies, procedures and other records to assess how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

  • 8.30am to 5pm Monday and Thursday
  • 9am to 5pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
  • 8.30am to 1pm Friday

We identified regulations the provider was not complying with. They must:

  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

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

  • Take action to ensure audits for prescribing of antibiotic medicines take into account the guidance provided by the College of General Dentistry.

28 March 2023

During a routine inspection

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection on 28 March 2023 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 practice 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 advisor.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following 5 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:

  • The dental clinic appeared clean and well-maintained.
  • The practice’s infection control procedures were not effective.
  • Staff knew how to deal with medical emergencies.
  • The provider did not operate effective systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
  • Safeguarding processes were in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
  • Staff recruitment procedures were not operated effectively.
  • Clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
  • Patients were treated with dignity and respect.
  • Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
  • The appointment system worked efficiently to respond to patients’ needs.
  • The frequency of appointments was agreed between the dentist and the patient, giving due regard to National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
  • Staff felt involved, supported and worked as a team.
  • Staff and patients were asked for feedback about the services provided.
  • The practice did not have appropriate quality assurance processes to encourage learning and continuous improvement.
  • The practice’s information governance arrangements required improvement.

Background

Bell House Dental Practice is situated in Tetbury and provides private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

There is step free access to the practice, via a ramp for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs.

Car parking spaces, including dedicated parking for disabled people, are available near the practice. The practice has made reasonable adjustments to support patients with access requirements.

The dental team includes 1 dentist, 2 dental nurses and a dental hygienist.

The practice has 2 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with 1 dentist, 2 dental nurses and a dental hygienist.

We looked at practice policies, procedures and other records to assess how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

  • Monday 8.30am to 5.00pm
  • Tuesday 9.00am to 5.00pm
  • Wednesday 8.30am to 1.00pm
  • Thursday 9.00am to 5.00pm
  • Friday 8.30am to 1.00pm

We identified regulations the provider was not complying with. They must:

  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

Full details of the regulation the provider was not meeting are at the end of this report.

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

  • Implement audits for prescribing of antibiotic medicines taking into account the guidance provided by the College of General Dentistry.
  • Improve the practice protocols regarding auditing patient dental care records to check that necessary information is recorded.

The provider accepted the shortfalls that we raised and took immediate action the day of our inspection to begin to address these.

Where evidence is sent that shows the relevant issues have been acted on, we have stated this in our report, but we cannot say that the practice is compliant for that key question as this would not be an accurate reflection of what was found on the day of our inspection.

14 August 2014

During a routine inspection

At the time of our inspection there were no patients in the practice. We spoke with the dental nurse as the dentist was away from the practice on annual leave.

The nurse, who also worked as a receptionist, told us they enjoyed working in the service describing it as 'a really nice place to work we have all been here for years'. They told us they had "lots of training". We saw this included training in dealing with medical emergencies, customer care and infection control training. At our last inspection in November 2013 we found there were no staff meetings or staff appraisals. At this inspection, in August 2014, we found there had been improvements in the frequency of staff meetings and staff had a system in place for peer support.

At our last inspection we found there was a system for the management of complaints but there was no other means of monitoring the quality of service provided by the practice. At this inspection we found the practice had developed patient questionnaires to gain their views. The dentist had a system in place to monitor and analyse any complaints, incidents and accidents.

2 October 2013

During a routine inspection

We spoke with nine people who were attending for appointments. One person we spoke with described their experience as 'excellent'. Another person who had been recommended the practice told us they had been attending there for treatment for many years and were 'happy with the service'.

Several people said they combined visits to the dentist with seeing the hygienist. One person said that staying with the service was their 'vote of confidence'. They told us how advice given by the hygienist had led to less frequent appointments as their gum health had improved.

We spoke with the hygienist who said they occasionally referred people to a specialist in periodontology for gum treatments. They told us that people generally followed their advice and saw improvements in their gum health.

People told us they had contacted the practice for an emergency appointment and were seen the following day.

One receptionist/nurse told us they enjoyed working in the service describing it as a 'friendly, happy practice'. Another told us about their role in allaying people's fears and also said the practice was 'nice to work in'. Staff told us they had training opportunities including training in child protection and safeguarding vulnerable adults. They said they felt supported but there were no formal staff meetings, supervision or appraisal.

There was a system for the management of complaints. However, there was no other means of monitoring the quality of service provided.