Herts Dental

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection on 10 October 2023 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 practice 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 advisor.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following 5 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:

• The dental clinic appeared clean and well-maintained.
• The practice had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with medical emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The practice had systems to manage risks for patients, staff, equipment and the premises.
• Safeguarding processes were in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The practice had staff recruitment procedures which mostly reflected current legislation.
• Clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect. Staff took care to protect patients’ privacy and personal information.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system worked efficiently to respond to patients’ needs.
• There was effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Staff felt involved, supported and worked as a team.
• Staff and patients were asked for feedback about the services provided.
• Complaints were dealt with positively and efficiently.
• The practice had information governance arrangements.

Background

Herts Dental is in Watford and provides private dental care and treatment for adults.

There is step free access to the practice. There is restricted space at the entrance of the practice, so it is not easily accessible for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. The practice does not have an accessible toilet and they communicated this to new patients before booking. Car parking spaces, including dedicated parking for disabled people, are available near the practice. The practice has made reasonable adjustments to support patients with access requirements.

The dental team includes 1 dentist, 2 trainee dental nurses and 1 dental hygienist. A locum dental nurse attends the practice to assist with sedation. The practice has 2 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with the dentist, both trainee dental nurses and the hygienist. We looked at practice policies, procedures and other records to assess how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Monday to Friday from 10am to 6pm.

Saturdays by appointment only.

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

• Improve the practice's recruitment procedures to ensure accurate, complete and detailed records are maintained for all staff. In particular, satisfactory evidence of conduct in previous employment (references) and evidence of effective immunity for vaccine preventable infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B.

• Take action to ensure audits of radiography are completed at the recommended frequency and that audits of record keeping and antimicrobial prescribing are undertaken at regular intervals to improve the quality of the service. The practice should also ensure that, where appropriate, audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.

• Implement a system to ensure patient referrals to other dental or health care professionals are centrally monitored to ensure they are received in a timely manner and not lost.