Archived: 5 De Parys Dental Care - Bedford

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 9 November 2015 to ask the practice the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

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 not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Background

5 De Parys Dental Care is a private dental practice in the centre of Bedford. It is situated on the ground floor of a converted Victorian townhouse.

The practice has three surgeries. The practice offers a range of general dental treatment and tooth whitening. They also give the option of treatment under conscious sedation.

The principal dentist offers a range of facial aesthetic treatments (these are cosmetic treatments including dermal fillers and botulinum toxin treatment) in addition to the general dentistry.

The practice staff includes a principal dentist, three further dentists (although one had not commenced working at the time of our visit), one hygienist, one therapist, three dental nurses and a practice manager.

The principal dentist is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons 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 practice is open Monday to Friday, with one late evening (until 7.00 pm) and Saturday appointments available once a month.

We received feedback from 29 patients, who made very positive comments about the service. They described how the staff were always friendly and professional, and patients were always treated with dignity and respect. Some patients told us that appointments sometimes ran late.

Our key findings were:

• Patients were treated with care, dignity and respect.

• The practice had systems in place to manage risk to patients, staff and visitors. These included infection prevention and control, and health and safety.

• Governance procedures for continuous improvement of the service were not sufficiently robust.
• The practice had robust policies and procedures in place for child protection and safeguarding vulnerable adults.
• The practice ensured that patients’ valid consent was obtained for all care and treatment.
• Emergency equipment and drugs were found to be present in accordance with the relevant guidelines.

We identified regulations that were not being met and the provider must:

• Ensure that justification for taking an X-ray is recorded in the dental care records. Ensure that audits of the quality of X-rays are complete, including an action plan to improve overall quality. Ensure that radiation training is up to date for all appropriate members of staff. Giving regard to the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000.
• Ensure that staff employed have all appropriate checks performed in accordance with Schedule 3 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to ensure employment of fit and proper persons.
• Ensure that staff employed have the necessary immunisation against Hepatitis B to protect them against blood borne transmission.

You can see full details of the regulations not being met at the end of this report.

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

• Implement a robust servicing schedule for the equipment in the practice to ensure its safety.

• Review the frequency of tests required for autoclaves within the Health and Technical Memorandum 01-05.

• Implement a schedule of yearly staff appraisals, where training needs of the individual could be discussed.