Great Horton Dental Practice Also known as Mrs Lawiza Sajid Malik - Great Horton DentCare Limited

We carried out this announced inspection on 2 December 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 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 this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found this practice was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

Great Horton Dental Practice is in Bradford and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

Due to nature of the premises, wheelchair access would not be possible. Wheelchair users would be signposted to a local accessible practice. Car parking spaces are available near the practice.

The dental team includes four dentists, five dental nurses (two of who are trainees), one receptionist 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 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 Great Horton Dental Practice is the company director.

On the day of inspection, we collected 25 CQC comment cards filled in by patients.

During the inspection we spoke with two dentists, two dental nurses, the receptionist, the practice manager and the registered 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 9:00am to 5:30pm

Our key findings were:

• The practice appeared to be visibly clean and well-maintained.
• The provider had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The provider had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff. Improvements could be made to the process for managing the risks associated with Legionella and the use of radiation.
• The provider had safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The provider had staff recruitment procedures. Improvements could be made to the process for requesting references.
• 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 provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system took account of patients’ needs.
• The provider had effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked as a team.
• The provider asked patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The provider had information governance arrangements.

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

• Implement an effective process to ensure that references are completed prior to new staff commencing employment at the practice.
• Improve 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.
• Implement a system to ensure patient referrals to other dental or health care professionals are centrally monitored to ensure they are received in a timely manner and not rejected.