Updated 9 August 2021
We undertook a focused follow-up inspection of Richardsons Dental Practice on 20 July 2021. 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 practice was now meeting legal requirements.
The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Richardsons Dental Practice on 10 May 2021 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 safe or well led care and was in breach of regulations 12, 17 and 19 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 Richardsons Dental Practice on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
As part of this inspection we asked:
- Is it safe?
- Is it well-led?
When one or more of the five 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.
Our findings were:
Are services safe?
We found this practice was providing safe 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.
The provider had made improvements in relation to the regulatory breaches we found at our inspection on 10 May 2021.
Background
Richardson’s Dental Practice is located in Sutton-in-Ashfield town centre in north Nottinghamshire 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. There are town centre car parks available near the practice including spaces for blue badge holders.
The dental team includes two part-time dentists, two dental nurses, and the practice owner who is also a dental nurse. The practice has two treatment rooms, both of which are on the ground floor. Currently, only one is in use as a treatment room.
The practice is owned by an individual. They have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run.
During the inspection we spoke with one dentist, one dental nurse and the practice owner. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
Monday to Friday: 9am to 5pm.
Our key findings were:
- The provider had reviewed the health and safety concerns raised at the last inspection.
- A new set of emergency medicines and equipment had been purchased to replace the medicines held previously.
- Arrangements had been made for an electrician to carry out the five year-fixed wire electrical safety check.
- An infection prevention and control audit had been completed in June 2021.
- Arrangements had been made to complete the annual Landlord’s gas safety check.
- The practice did not have a Legionella risk assessment. Arrangements had been made to address this.
- Staff recruitment records had been reviewed and updated.
- The provider had reviewed the systems and processes relating to the governance of the practice. New recording and monitoring tools had been introduced and staff had received training in their use.
- The provider had introduced a monitoring tool for staff training to enable them to have an overview of staff training needs and training courses that had been completed.
- Improvements had been made to the security of dental care records.
- Staff meetings had resumed, and minutes were kept of those meetings.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:
- Take action to ensure a Legionella risk assessment is completed and implemented. 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.’