Kiln Lane Dental

We carried out this short notice announced, focussed inspection on 11 November 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, under the key question of ‘Safe’. The inspection was led by a Care Quality Commission, (CQC), inspector.

This focussed inspection concentrated on the key question:

• Is it safe?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

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

Background

Kiln Lane Dental is located in St Helens, Merseyside and provides private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

There is level access to the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces are available near the practice. There are no designated blue badge parking bays outside the practice.

The dental team includes five dentists, eight dental nurses and two dental hygienists. The practice is supported by a practice manager who is also a qualified dental nurse. There are four treatment rooms, three of which are at ground floor level.

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 Kiln Lane Dental is the practice manager.

During the inspection we spoke with the practice manager. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Our key findings were:

• The practice appeared to be visibly clean and well-maintained.
• The provider had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
• A risk assessment for management of risk from Legionella was in place. We found that one recommendation had not been actioned. The provider acted on this immediately.
• 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.
• The provider had safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The provider had staff recruitment procedures which reflected current legislation.

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

Take action to implement any outstanding recommendations in the practice's Legionella risk assessment, 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.’