Updated 9 May 2018
Background
HMP Pentonville is a large Victorian local prison for remand and convicted prisoners, with four wings unchanged since it was built in 1842. It is one of the busiest prisons in the country with approximately 33,000 movements of prisoners a year through its reception. It accepts all suitable male prisoners over the age of 18 from courts in its catchment area.
Some dental services are provided by Time for Teeth Limited, who are subcontracted by the main healthcare provider. The dental team share facilities at the prison with a second provider of dental services. The location is registered to provide the regulated activities: Treatment of disease, disorder or injury, Surgical procedures, and Diagnostic and screening procedures.
CQC inspected this location with HMIP between 9 and 13 January 2017. We found evidence that fundamental standards were not being met and issued requirement notices in relation to Regulation 15, Premises and equipment, and Regulation 17, Good governance, of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
The joint report published following the January 2017 inspection can be found by accessing the following website: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/06/Pentonville-Web-2017.pdf
We subsequently asked Time for Teeth Limited to make improvements regarding these breaches. We checked these areas during this focused inspection and found that the provider had addressed the previous regulatory breaches identified.
Our inspection team
This inspection was completed by a CQC health and justice inspector and specialist dental adviser.
On the day of our inspection visit, we spoke with dentists and dental nurses from both providers, reviewed the clinical facilities within the dental suite, and looked at a range of documents and records relating to clinical practice and governance.