Updated 15 July 2020
We undertook a follow up desk-based inspection of Ashfield House (High Bentham) Dental Practice on the 29 June 2020. This inspection was carried out to review in detail 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 undertaken by a CQC inspector who had remote access to a specialist dental adviser.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of on 5 March 2020 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 safe and well led care and was in breach of regulations 12 and 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 Ashfield House (High Bentham) Dental Practice on our website .
As part of this inspection we asked:
- Is it safe?
- Is it well-led?
When one or more of the five questions are not met, we require the service to make improvements and send us an action plan.
This desk-based inspection was undertaken during the Covid 19 pandemic. Due to the demands and constraints in place because of Covid 19 we reviewed the action plan and asked the provider to confirm compliance after a reasonable interval, focusing on the area where improvement was required.
Our findings were:
Are services safe?
We found this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
The provider had made improvements in relation to the regulatory breaches we found at our inspection on 05 March 2020.
Are services well-led?
We found this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
The provider had made improvements in relation to the regulatory breaches we found at our inspection on 05 March 2020.
Background
Ashfield House (High Bentham) Dental Practice is in High Bentham on the Lancashire and North Yorkshire border and provides private dental care and treatment for adults and children.
There is level access at the rear of the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces are available near the practice.
The dental team includes one dentist, one dental nurse and one receptionist. The practice has one treatment room.
The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist there. They 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 practice is open:
Monday to Wednesday: 9.00 – 5pm
Thursday: 2.00 – 9pm
Friday: Closed
Our key findings were :
- The provider had implemented infection control procedures which fully reflected published guidance in particular: the reprocessing of un-bagged dental instruments.
- The provider had safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children. Safeguarding training for staff could be demonstrated.
- The provider had improved staff recruitment procedures reflected current legislation for example; there were records of staff’s immunisation status.
- The provider had established an effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement.
- Clinical leadership and oversight of arrangements for managing risk were now effective, for example; the health and safety and the general risk assessments had been reviewed.
- Improved the practice's protocols and procedures for the use of X-ray equipment in compliance with The Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 and Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2017 and taking into account the guidance for Dental Practitioners on the Safe Use of X-ray Equipment, in particular the collimator had been fitted to the X-ray machine.