Smile Cliniq Limited

We carried out this announced inspection on 15 February 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 Care Quality Commission (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

Smile Cliniq Limited is in St Johns Wood, North London. The practice provides private treatment to adults and children.

Limited car parking spaces, including those for blue badge holders, are available near the practice.

The dental team includes a practice manager, seven dentists (two of whom are the practice’s directors), three trainee dental nurses and two receptionists.

The practice has two treatment rooms.

The practice is owned by 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 Smile Cliniq Limited is one of the practice directors who is also a dentist at the practice.

On the day of inspection, we obtained feedback from 28 patients. This included speaking with patients during the inspection and reviewing CQC comment cards filled in by patients.

During the inspection we spoke with two dentists (including one of the practice’s directors), a trainee dental nurse, a receptionist and the practice manager. We checked practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open at the following times:

Monday and Thursday: 9am to 8pm

Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday: 9am to 6pm

Saturday: 9am to 5pm

Our key findings were:

• The practice appeared clean and well maintained.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The provider had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• Staff were providing preventive care and supporting patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system took account of patients’ needs.
• The provider had effective leadership and culture of continuous improvement.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The provider dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
• The provider had suitable information governance arrangements.
• The provider had infection control procedures; they implemented improvements immediately after the inspection to ensure all of these reflected published guidance.
• The practice had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
• The provider had staff recruitment procedures; improvements were required to ensure all key checks as required were undertaken and documented suitably.

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

• Review practice's recruitment procedures to ensure that appropriate background checks are completed prior to new staff commencing employment at the practice.
• Review the practice’s protocols for ensuring that all clinical staff have adequate immunity for vaccine preventable infectious diseases.