Finchley Dental Care Centre

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection on 24 March 2023 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 advisor.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following 5 questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• 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 clean and well-maintained.
• The practice had infection control procedures which broadly reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with medical emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• Safeguarding processes were in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system worked efficiently to respond to patients’ needs.
• Staff felt involved, supported and worked as a team.
• Staff and patients were asked for feedback about the services provided.
• Complaints were dealt with positively and efficiently.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect. Improvements were needed to ensure that patient care records were stored securely.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidance. Improvements were needed to ensure patient care was suitably recorded within the dental care records.
• Risks to staff and patients from undertaking of regulated activities had not been suitably identified and mitigated.
• There was a lack of oversight of the day-to-day management of the service, and ineffective systems to support continuous improvement.

The provider responded immediately to our findings, and implemented prompt actions to mitigate the risks associated with fire, hazardous substances and Legionella.

Background

Finchley Dental Care Centre is in Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

The practice is on the first and second floor of a high street building and not accessible for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. The practice has processes in place to communicate this to patients prior to their appointments. Car parking spaces are available near the practice.

The dental team includes the principal dentist, 1 associate dentist, 2 dental nurses and 2 dental hygienists. The practice has 2 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with the principal dentist, 1 dental nurse and 1 dental hygienist. We looked at practice policies, procedures and other records to assess how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9am to 5.30pm.

Tuesday from 9am to 9pm

Saturday from 9am to 1pm.

We identified regulations the provider was/is 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 audits for prescribing of antibiotic medicines taking into account the guidance provided by the College of General Dentistry.
• Improve the practice protocols regarding auditing patient dental care records to check that necessary information is recorded.