Archived: Lynn Road Dental Practice

We carried out this announced focused inspection on 11 May 2022 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 adviser.

We usually ask five key questions, however due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to reduce time spent on site, only the following three questions were asked:

• 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:

• The dental clinic appeared to be visibly clean and well-maintained.
• Safeguarding processes were in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and staff took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• Opening hours were good, with late evening and Saturday appointments available.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• Staff and patients were asked for feedback about the services provided.
• The dental clinic had appropriate information governance arrangements in place.
• Recruitment procedures were not effective and appropriate references and disclosure and barring service checks had not been completed for staff.
• Auditing and risk management systems within the practice were not effective in driving improvement.

Background

Lynn Road Dental Practice provides both NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children. There is level access to the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. There are ground floor surgeries and a fully accessible toilet.

Free car parking spaces, including those for people with limited mobility, are available nearby.

The dental team includes five dentists, three hygienists, a practice manager and six dental nurses. The practice has four treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with the practice manager, one dentist, a hygienist, two dental nurses and reception staff. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open on Mondays from 9am to 6pm, Tuesdays from 8.30am to 6.30pm, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8.30am to 6pm and Fridays from 9am to 5pm. The practice also opens on a Saturday from 9am to 4pm.

We identified regulations the provider was not complying with. They must:

Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care. Full details of the regulation the provider was not meeting are at the end of this report.

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

• 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.

• Take action to ensure all clinicians are adequately supported by a trained member of the dental team when treating patients in a dental setting taking into account the guidance issued by the General Dental Council.