Orford Hill Dental Practice

We carried out this announced inspection on 21 May 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

Orford Hill Dental Practice is a well-established practice that provides mostly NHS treatment to patients. The dental team includes two dentists, three dental nurses, a clinical manager and a visiting dental hygienist. There are two treatment rooms.

The practice opens on Mondays from 8.30 am to 5 pm; on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 8 am to 5 pm, on Thursdays from 8.30 am to 8 pm, and on Fridays from 8 .30 am 5 pm. The practice is also open one Saturday a month.

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 the practice is the principal dentist.

On the day of inspection, we collected 50 CQC comment cards filled in by patients and spoke with three other patients. We spoke with the principal dentist, the clinical manager, two dental nurses and the receptionist.

We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• Recruitment procedures ensured only suitable staff were employed.
• Access to the service was good with appointments available early in the morning; until 8 pm one evening a week, and one Saturday a month.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current best practice guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and other published guidance.
• Patients received their care and treatment from well supported staff, who enjoyed their work.
• Members of the dental team were up-to-date with their continuing professional development and were supported to meet the requirements of their professional registration.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• The practice took patients’ complaints seriously and responded to them appropriately to improve the quality of care.
• The practice had effective leadership and a culture of continuous audit and improvement.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Review the security of prescription pads in the practice and ensure there are systems in place to track and monitor their use.
• Review the practice’s system for investigating and reviewing incidents or significant events with a view to preventing further occurrences and ensuring that improvements are made as a result.
• Review the practices’ current Legionella risk assessment taking into account guidelines issued by the Department of Health - Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices and have regard to The Health and Social Care Act 2008: ‘Code of Practice about the prevention and control of infections and related guidance.’