Verwood Dental Care

We carried out this announced focused inspection on 29 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.
• Staff felt involved and supported by the provider.
• The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The dental clinic was visibly clean.
• Staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The provider did not operate effective systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
• The appointment system took account of patients’ needs.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked as a team.
• The provider’s information governance arrangements were not operated effectively.
• Appropriate life-saving medicines were available.
• The provider did not have systems in place to ensure staff had completed training relevant to their roles.
• The provider’s staff recruitment procedures were not operated effectively.

Background

Verwood Dental Care is in Verwood and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

There is step free access to the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking is available near the practice. The practice has made adjustments to support patients with hearing loss.

The dental team includes one specialist, two dentists, four dental nurses, one dental hygienist, two receptionists and a practice manager. The practice has three treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with one dentists, three dental nurses, one dental hygienist, one receptionists 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 8.30am to 5.30pm

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.