Updated 4 March 2020
We undertook a focused inspection of Abbey Dental Care on 14 January 2020. 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 Abbey Dental Care on 18 November 2018 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 and 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We carried out a focused inspection on 20 March 2019 to review in detail the actions taken by the provider following the comprehensive inspection in November 2018. We found at this inspection that the provider was safe but still not well led. The provider was still in breach of regulation 17. We undertook a focused follow up inspection of Abbey Dental Care on 16 October 2019. We found the registered provider was still not providing well led care and was in still breach of regulation 17 good governance 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 Abbey dental care on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
As part of this inspection we asked:
• Is it well-led?
Our findings were:
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 continued regulatory breach we found at our inspection on 16 October 2019.
Background
Abbey Dental Care is in Glastonbury, Somerset and provides private treatment for adults and children.
There is access via a portable ramp for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces are available near the practice.
The dental team includes one dentist, one qualified dental nurse, one trainee dental nurse and a dental hygienist. The provider had recruited a consultant to help manage the practice. They attended two to three days a month. The practice has three treatment rooms, two of which were in use.
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.
During the inspection we spoke with the principal dentist and the management consultant. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
- Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm
- Fridays 9am-4.30pm
Our key findings were:
- The provider had systems and processes in place to effectively assess, monitor and improve the safety and quality of the service provided.
- Effective systems were in place to safely recruit staff.
- Audits were managed effectively and included analysis of results and actions identified.
- Effective systems were in place for the safe use of X-rays.
- The management systems to minimise the risk that can be caused from substances hazardous to health had improved.