Bawtry Dental Aesthetic & Implant Clinic

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection on 9 May 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 clinic appeared clean and well-maintained.
• The practice had infection control procedures which mostly reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with medical emergencies, improvements could be made to ensure all appropriate life-saving equipment was available for use.
• The practice had systems to manage risks for patients, staff, equipment and the premises.
• Improvements could be made to in-house risk management systems.
• Safeguarding processes were in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The practice had staff recruitment procedures which reflected current legislation.
• Clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect. Staff took care to protect patients’ privacy and personal information.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system worked efficiently to respond to patients’ needs.
• The frequency of appointments was agreed between the dentist and the patient, giving due regard to National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
• There was effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement. Audit systems could be improved to ensure current guidance is being followed.
• Staff felt involved, supported and worked as a team.
• Staff and patients were asked for feedback about the services provided.
• Complaints were dealt with positively and efficiently.
• The practice had information governance arrangements.

Background

Bawtry Dental and Implant Clinic is in Bawtry, Doncaster and provides 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. Car parking spaces, including dedicated parking for disabled people, are available by the practice in a shared car park. The practice has made reasonable adjustments to support patients with access requirements.

The dental team includes 1 dentist, 1 dental nurse and a receptionist who is also a qualified dental hygiene therapist but is not currently providing clinical treatments. The practice has 1 treatment room.

During the inspection we spoke with the dentist, the dental nurse and the receptionist. We looked at practice policies, procedures and other records to assess how the service is managed.

The practice is open: Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm.

We noted innovative approaches to providing person centred care. For example, the principal dentist has invested in a range of dental technology to enhance the range of dental treatment the practice can offer to its patients.

The practice had taken steps to improve environmental sustainability. For example, aiming to reduce paper use and energy consumption.

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

• Improve the practice's systems for assessing, monitoring and mitigating the various risks arising from the undertaking of the regulated activities. In particular, medical emergency medicines and equipment requirements, legionella management systems and sharps risk mitigation.
• Take action to ensure audits of infection prevention and control are undertaken at regular intervals to improve the quality of the service. Practice should also ensure that, where appropriate, audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.