The Care Quality Commission
  • Dentist
  • Dentist

Specialist Dental Partners

9 Beech House, Melbourn Science Park, Cambridge Road, Melbourn, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 6HB (01763) 261129

Provided and run by:
Mr Myles Hyla Edward Dakin

All Inspections

30 March 2022

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We undertook a follow up focused of Specialist Dental Partners on 30 March 2022. 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 undertook a comprehensive inspection of the practice on 2 November 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 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 the practice on our website www.cqc.org.uk.

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.

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 enough improvements in relation to the regulatory breach we found at our previous inspection.

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

  • Implement processes and systems for seeking and learning from patient feedback with a view to monitoring and improving the quality of the service.

Background

Specialist Dental Partners is based on Melbourne Science Park and provides private treatment to about 1700 patients. The dental team includes three dentists, one visiting orthodontist, two dental hygienists, two reception staff and five dental nurses. The practice has three treatment rooms.

The premises are accessible to wheelchair users and there is car parking available directly outside the building.

The practice is open Monday from 9.30am to 5.30pm, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9am to 5.30pm, and on Friday from 9am to 4pm.

During the inspection we spoke with the principal dentist and a nurse. We looked at records about how the service is managed.

2 November 2021

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out this announced focused inspection on 2 November 2021under 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 asked the following questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• 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 this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found this practice was not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

Specialist Dental Partners is based on Melbourne Science Park and provides private treatment to about 1700 patients. The dental team includes three dentists, one visiting orthodontist, two dental hygienists, two reception staff and five dental nurses. The practice has three treatment rooms.

The premises are accessible to wheelchair users and there is parking available directly outside the building.

The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist there. 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.

The practice is open Monday from 9.30am to 5.30pm, on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays from 9am to 5.30pm, and on Fridays from 9am to 4pm.

During the inspection we spoke with the principal dentist, two dental nurses and the receptionist. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

Our key findings were:

  • The practice appeared to be visibly clean and well-maintained.
  • The provider had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
  • The provider had safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
  • Staff felt respected and supported.
  • The provider did not have robust staff recruitment procedures in place to ensure only suitable staff were employed.
  • There were no systems to ensure that the completion of dental care records followed guidance provided by the Faculty of General Dental Practice.

We identified regulations the provider was not meeting. They must:

  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

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

  • Implement processes and systems for seeking and learning from patient feedback with a view to monitoring and improving the quality of the service.

  • Review the need for a door in one surgery to ensure patient confidentiality is maintained and reduce the risk of aerosol spread following and aerosol generating procedures.