C Watson - Camberwell Road

We carried out this announced focused inspection of C Watson – Camberwell Road on 26 April 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.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, 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:

• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system took account of patients’ needs.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and staff took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• The dental clinic had information governance arrangements.
• The practice infection control procedures were not in accordance with published guidance.
• The practice dd not have effective arrangements for dealing with medical emergencies . Some of the appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were not available and staff were unclear about emergency procedures.
• The practice did not have effective systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
• Effective safeguarding processes were not in place and staff were unclear as to their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The practice did not have suitable arrangements to ensure the dentist had suitably trained staff to provide chairside support when treating patients.
• There was ineffective leadership and a lack of systems to support continuous improvement.

Background

C Watson – Camberwell Road is in the London Borough of Southwark and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

The dental team includes one dentist, one receptionist and one assistant. The practice has one treatment room.

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

The practice is open between 8.30am and 5pm Mondays to Fridays.

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

• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.

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

Due to the serious level of concerns we identified, we have taken urgent enforcement action and suspended the providers registration for a period of three months. We will report further when any enforcement action is concluded.

Full details of the regulations the provider is not meeting are at the end of this report.