• Dentist
  • Dentist

Blanchard and Castle Dental Surgery Also known as Oaktree

Gerrards Place, Kennet Road, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5JB (01635) 40781

Provided and run by:
Mitrata Ltd

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

All Inspections

17 July 2023

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We undertook a follow up focused inspection of Blanchard & Castle Dental Surgery on 17 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 Blanchard & Castle Dental Surgery on 6 March 2023under 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 Blanchard & Castle Dental Surgery 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 providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

The provider had made improvements in relation to the regulatory breach we found at our inspection on 6 March 2023

Background

Blanchard & Castle, known as Oaktree Dental Practice, is in Newbury and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

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

The practice treatment rooms are based on the first floor of the practice. New patients are advised of this when they contact the practice.

Car parking spaces, including dedicated parking for disabled people, are available near the practice.

The dental team includes 6 dentists, 2 student dental nurses, 1 dental hygienist and 2 receptionists.

The practice has 3 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with the principal dentist.

The practice is open:

  • 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday

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

  • Improve 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’. In particular, the provision of a separate hand-washing sink for use by staff conducting decontamination, flooring repairs and effective cleaning of waiting room soft furnishings.

6 March 2023

During a routine inspection

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection on 6 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 practice was visibly clean.
  • 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.
  • The clinicians provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
  • Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
  • Staff training was not monitored effectively.
  • The practice did not have appropriate quality assurance processes to encourage learning and continuous improvement.
  • The practice did not have effective leadership.

Background

Blanchard & Castle, known as Oaktree Dental Practice, is in Newbury and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

There is step free access to the practice reception for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs.

The practice treatment rooms are based on the first floor of the practice. New patients are advised of this when they contact the practice.

Car parking spaces, including dedicated parking for disabled people, are available near the practice.

The dental team includes 6 dentists, 2 student dental nurses, 1 dental hygienist and 2 receptionists.

The practice has 3 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with 1 dentist, 2 dental nurses, 1 dental hygienist, 2 receptionists and the practice manager.

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

The practice is open:

  • Monday 9.00am – 5.00pm
  • Tuesday 9.00am – 5.00pm
  • Wednesday 9.00am – 5.00pm
  • Thursday 9.00am – 5.00pm
  • Friday 9.00am – 5.00pm

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.

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

  • Take action to ensure that all clinical staff have adequate immunity for vaccine preventable infectious diseases.