Archived: Whitestone Family Dental Practice (NHS)

Updated 18 July 2019

We carried out this announced inspection on 4 June 2019 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 providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

Whitestone Family Dental practice is in Whitestone, Nuneaton and provides NHS treatment to adults and children.

There is ramped access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces, including those for blue badge holders, are available at the rear of the practice. Car parking is also available on local side roads.

The dental team includes five dentists, six dental nurses, including a senior dental nurse, two receptionists, a cleaner and a practice manager. The practice has three 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 Whitestone Family dental practice is the senior partner.

On the day of inspection, we collected eight CQC comment cards filled in by patients and spoke with one other patient.

During the inspection we spoke with two dentists, two dental nurses, one receptionist 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 to Friday from 8am to 8pm and Saturday from 9am to 4pm.

Our key findings were:

• The practice appeared clean and well maintained.
• The provider had infection control procedures some changes were required to ensure staff worked towards published guidance. Following this inspection, discussions were held, and new systems put in place regarding this.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Not all appropriate life-saving equipment was available, missing items were ordered the day following this inspection.
• The practice had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff, although some risk assessments required updating.
• The provider had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The provider had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
• 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.
• Staff were providing preventive care and supporting patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system took account of patients’ needs. Extended opening hours were provided Monday to Friday, the practice opened at 8am and closed at 8pm. The practice was also open each Saturday from 9am to 4pm.
• Patients who required an emergency appointment were seen the same day wherever possible and were always seen within 24 hours of their initial contact with the practice.
• The provider had effective leadership and culture of continuous improvement.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The provider asked patients for feedback about the services they provided although they had a very low response rate.
• The provider dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
• The provider had suitable information governance arrangements.

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

• Review the security of NHS prescription pads in the practice and ensure there are systems in place to track and monitor their use.

• 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’ In particular review the practice’s systems for environmental cleaning taking into account current national specifications for cleanliness in the NHS. Ensuring that decontamination processes are followed, for example, by using the correct dosage of cleaning chemicals in manual cleaning processes and in dental unit water lines. Implementing systems to check that water is at the correct temperature during manual cleaning processes and ensuring that dental equipment awaiting decontamination is kept moist prior to cleaning.

• Review the practice’s protocols for ensuring that all clinical staff have adequate immunity for vaccine preventable infectious diseases.

• Review the practice’s protocols to ensure audits of radiography and infection prevention and control are undertaken at regular intervals to improve the quality of the service. The practice should also ensure that, where appropriate, audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.

• Review the practice's responsibilities to take into account the needs of patients with disabilities and to comply with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.