All inspections: Midland Smile Centres - Handsworth

We carried out a focussed follow-up inspection on 5 July 2016 to check the practice had achieved compliance following our inspection of 30 January 2015. We concentrated on the following key question: Are services safe?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

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

Our key findings were:

Patients could be assured the practice was carrying out robust recruitment checks on new members of staff.
The practice had the necessary equipment for staff to deal with medical emergencies, and staff had been trained how to use that equipment. This included an automated external defibrillator, oxygen and emergency medicines.
There were systems in place to record accidents, significant events and complaints, and where learning points were identified these were shared with staff.
There was a comprehensive business continuity plan to help staff if an emergency occurred such as a failure in the electricity supply.
The practice had a lead person for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. All staff had received relevant training in safeguarding to help protect patients.

Staff were flushing dental waterlines to prevent bacterial growth and risk to patients.

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Midland Smile Centres – Handsworth (located in Handsworth Wood) on 30 January 2015.

The practice offers both NHS and private treatment services for its patient population. Midland Smile Centres – Handsworth has three dentists, a trainee practice manager and a team of dental nurses and reception staff. The practice is part of a group of practices and staff members worked from other sites if needed. We spoke with a trainee dental practice manager who was responsible for the day to day running of the practice. Other management staff were also present during the inspection. These included the area manager, a support manager and their manager. At the time of our inspection there was one dentist on duty.

We spoke with two patients who used the service on the day of our inspection and reviewed eight CQC comment cards that had been completed by patients prior to the inspection. The patients we spoke with were very complimentary about the service. They told us they found the staff to be friendly and welcoming and felt they were treated with respect. The comments on the CQC comment cards were also very complimentary about the dentists and the service provided.

Our key findings were as follows:

The practice had systems to monitor patient safety through reporting and learning from incidents and significant events. However, not all incidents were being reported. The premises were generally visibly clean but we saw one treatment room that was not clean to the standard expected.

Patient’s needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current guidance. This included the promotion of good oral health. We saw evidence staff had received most training considered by the provider to be mandatory. However, staff needed to attend safeguarding adults training.

The patients we spoke with and all comment cards we reviewed indicated that patients were treated with kindness and respect by staff. We observed that privacy and confidentiality were maintained for patients using the service on the day of the inspection.

The practice had procedures in place to take into account any comments, concerns or complaints that were made to improve the practice.

Staff on duty told us they felt supported by both the principal and practice manager. There was an appraisal system in place and staff told us that training needs were recognised through the process.

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

Ensure effective recruitment procedures are in place to ensure staff employed for the purposes of carrying on regulated activities are of good character.
Ensure all incidents are documented as per practice policy so that any learning could be implemented.
Training must be adequate for staff roles and appropriate staff members must ensure they attend relevant training.
Develop a comprehensive business continuity plan.
Dental waterlines must be flushed according to guidelines to reduce the risk of cross infection.
Ensure all emergency medical equipment is available and adequately maintained to manage risk of inappropriate and unsafe care.

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

Ensure dentists have a satisfactory understanding of consent including informed consent from those less than 16 years of age.

Patient notes should reflect discussions around treatment options.

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Midland Smile Centres – Handsworth (located in Handsworth Wood) on 30 January 2015.

The practice offers both NHS and private treatment services for its patient population. Midland Smile Centres – Handsworth has three dentists, a trainee practice manager and a team of dental nurses and reception staff. The practice is part of a group of practices and staff members worked from other sites if needed. We spoke with a trainee dental practice manager who was responsible for the day to day running of the practice. Other management staff were also present during the inspection. These included the area manager, a support manager and their manager. At the time of our inspection there was one dentist on duty.

We spoke with two patients who used the service on the day of our inspection and reviewed eight CQC comment cards that had been completed by patients prior to the inspection. The patients we spoke with were very complimentary about the service. They told us they found the staff to be friendly and welcoming and felt they were treated with respect. The comments on the CQC comment cards were also very complimentary about the dentists and the service provided.

Our key findings were as follows:

The practice had systems to monitor patient safety through reporting and learning from incidents and significant events. However, not all incidents were being reported. The premises were generally visibly clean but we saw one treatment room that was not clean to the standard expected.

Patient’s needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current guidance. This included the promotion of good oral health. We saw evidence staff had received most training considered by the provider to be mandatory. However, staff needed to attend safeguarding adults training.

The patients we spoke with and all comment cards we reviewed indicated that patients were treated with kindness and respect by staff. We observed that privacy and confidentiality were maintained for patients using the service on the day of the inspection.

The practice had procedures in place to take into account any comments, concerns or complaints that were made to improve the practice.

Staff on duty told us they felt supported by both the principal and practice manager. There was an appraisal system in place and staff told us that training needs were recognised through the process.

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

Ensure effective recruitment procedures are in place to ensure staff employed for the purposes of carrying on regulated activities are of good character.
Ensure all incidents are documented as per practice policy so that any learning could be implemented.
Training must be adequate for staff roles and appropriate staff members must ensure they attend relevant training.
Develop a comprehensive business continuity plan.
Dental waterlines must be flushed according to guidelines to reduce the risk of cross infection.
Ensure all emergency medical equipment is available and adequately maintained to manage risk of inappropriate and unsafe care.

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

Ensure dentists have a satisfactory understanding of consent including informed consent from those less than 16 years of age.

Patient notes should reflect discussions around treatment options.

During our inspection we spoke with two dentists, a dental nurse, the practice manager and another practice manager from a sister practice. We looked at the records for ten adults who had used the service.

Following our visit we spoke with four people over the telephone so that we could get their views of the quality of service provided. All the people we spoke with were very positive about their experiences. They felt they were given enough information about their treatment options and were always asked about their medical history. One person told us, 'I usually see Dentist X and he tells me what's what'. Another person we spoke to said, 'The dentist knows my medical history and enquires about my health'

We found that people received the care and treatment they needed and records detailed the treatment people had received.

There were infection prevention procedures in place to minimise the risk of infection. Decontamination procedures were followed to ensure instruments were being hygienically cleaned. However, it was unclear if there was an infection control lead in the practice.

People told us that the staff were friendly and helpful. We saw that systems were in place to support staff in their role.

There were procedures in place to monitor quality of service and identify improvements where necessary.

Archived: Midland Smile Centres - Handsworth

All Inspections

5 July 2016

During an inspection looking at part of the service

30 January 2015

During a routine inspection

30 January 2015

During a routine inspection

18, 29 July 2013

During a routine inspection