Updated 4 August 2023
We undertook a follow up inspection of Broadwalk Dental Centre on the 1 August 2023. This inspection was carried out to review in detail the actions taken by the registered provider to improve the quality of care and to confirm that the provider was now meeting legal requirements.
We had previously undertaken a comprehensive inspection of the practice on 14 March 2023 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We found the registered provider was not providing well-led care and was in breach of regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can read our report of that inspection by selecting the 'all reports' link for Broadwalk Dental Centre on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
When 1 or more of the 5 questions are not met, we require the service to make improvements and send us an action plan. We then inspect again after a reasonable interval, focusing on the areas where improvement was required.
As part of this inspection, we asked:
• Is it well-led?
Our findings were:
We found this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations. The provider had made sufficient improvements in relation to the regulatory breach we found at our previous inspection. In general improvements were noted in recruitment procedures, health and safety risk assessment, staff training, and overall governance.
Background
Broadwalk Dental Centre is based in Harlow and provides both NHS funded and private dental care and treatment for adults and children. In addition to general dentistry, the practice also provides sedation services. The practice is part of Gentle Dental Care, a group dental provider.
The practice is located in the same premises as another dental practice, and both share some of the running costs and expenses.
The premises are accessible for wheelchair users and there is public car parking nearby.
The dental team includes 4 dentists, a dental hygienist, a practice manager, 3 dental nurses and a receptionist. There is 1 treatment room.
During the inspection we spoke with the current registered manager, the practice manager and a new staff member who was about to apply to become the registered manager. We reviewed practice policies and procedures.