The Care Quality Commission
  • Dentist
  • Dentist

Station House Dental Practice

Fernlea Avenue, Barnoldswick, Lancashire, BB18 5DW (01282) 817172

Provided and run by:
Dr Sarah Metias

Important: The provider of this service changed - see old profile

All Inspections

7 February 2023

During a routine inspection

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection on 7 February 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 adviser.

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 practice had infection control procedures in place. Improvements could be made to the process for ensuring the automatic control test is carried out on the autoclave.
  • Emergency equipment and medicines were not available and checked as described in recognised guidance.
  • The risks associated with fire and Legionella had not been appropriately managed.
  • Safeguarding processes were in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
  • The practice had staff recruitment procedures in place.
  • 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.
  • Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
  • The appointment system took account of patients’ needs.
  • There was effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement.
  • Staff felt involved and supported and worked as a team.
  • Staff and patients were asked for feedback about the services provided.
  • Complaints were dealt with positively and efficiently.
  • The dental clinic had information governance arrangements.

Background

Station House Dental Practice is in Barnoldswick and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children. The service offers dental implants.

There is level access to the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces are available near the practice.

The dental team includes 3 dentists, 4 dental nurses, 2 dental hygiene therapists, 1 receptionist and a practice manager. The practice has 3 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with 1 dentist (the owner), 2 dental nurses, 1 receptionist and the practice manager. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm

Saturday 2 per month, 9:00am to 2:00pm

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

  • Take action to ensure the availability of medicines in the practice to manage medical emergencies taking into account the guidelines issued by the British National Formulary and the General Dental Council.
  • Take action to implement any recommendations in the practice's Legionella risk assessment, taking into account the guidelines issued by the Department of Health in the Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices, and having regard to The Health and Social Care Act 2008: ‘Code of Practice about the prevention and control of infections and related guidance.’ Consistent water temperature checks, responding to temperatures that fall beyond the safe parameters and implement staff training.
  • Take action to implement a fire safety risk assessment and ensure ongoing fire safety management is effective.

18 August 2015

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 18 August 2015 to ask the practice the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

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

Are services effective?

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

Are services caring?

We found that this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

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

Are services well-led?

We found that this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

This was the first inspection of the service since registering with CQC in February 2015.

Station House Dental Practice is located in Barnoldswick town centre. The practice provides both NHS and private dental care. There are two dentists one of whom is the owner/principal dentist, two dental nurses one of whom is the practice manager and a marketing manager. At the time of this inspection there were 1239 patients registered with the practice. Station House offers (30%) NHS dental care services to patients of all ages and the remaining patients (70%) paid privately or had a dental payment plan in place.

The principal dentist is registered with CQC as the registered provider for the practice. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the practice is run.

We received feedback in CQC comment cards from 40 patients. In addition we spoke with three patients on the day of our inspection. Feedback from patients was extremely positive about the treatment and care they received at the practice. Patients were complimentary about the staff and told us they were treated with kindness, respect and compassion.

The practice was situated in a converted residential property access is suitable for patients who used a wheelchair. Disabled toilet facilities were not provided but patients were made aware that these facilities were available in the nearby library. There was a treatment room and a waiting room on the ground floor. The decontamination room was adjacent to the treatment room.

There were two dentists working at the practice. The principal dentist treated patients Monday to Thursday and the other dentist worked at the practice on Fridays. They were supported by two registered dental nurses, a casual receptionist, a marketing manager and a practice manager.

The practice opening times are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9am until 5pm and Wednesday 9am until 8pm and alternate Saturdays 9am until 1pm.

Our key findings were:

  • Staff had attended training in relation to safeguarding and whistleblowing and understood their responsibilities to protect patients from harm.
  • There were systems in place to assess and manage risks to patients, including health and safety and the management of medical emergencies.
  • Patients were involved in making decisions about their treatment and were given clear explanations about their proposed treatment including costs, benefits and risks.
  • The practice had procedures in place to take into account any comments, concerns or complaints.
  • There were maintenance contracts in place to ensure all equipment had been serviced regularly, including, autoclave, fire extinguishers, the suction compressor, oxygen cylinder and X-ray equipment.
  • There were effective systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection. The premises were visibly clean and well maintained. There were policies and procedures providing guidance on how to maintain a clean and hygienic environment.
  • The patients we spoke with and all the comment cards we reviewed indicated that staff were kind and respectful.
  • Patients gave signed consent before treatment commenced. Patient’s dental care records showed on-going monitoring of their oral health.
  • Patients were asked to provide information about their general health and any medications they were taking before treatment started.
  • Patients were provided with a written copy of their treatment plan which also indicated the costs of individual treatments.
  • The practice had an accessible and visible leadership team. Staff were supported to maintain their continuing professional development (CPD) and had undertaken training appropriate to their roles.
  • The patients we spoke with and staff reported that patients were at the heart of the practice.

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

  • Ensure the local rules relating to radiation protection are practice specific and review the arrangements for seeking advice from a radiation protection advisor (RPA) regarding the Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999 (IRR99).
  • Review policies and procedures to ensure they are practice specific.