Poringland Dental Surgery

We carried out this announced focused inspection on 13 July 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.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• 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.

Appropriate pre-employment references had not been obtained for new staff.

• Auditing and risk management systems within the practice were not effective in driving improvement.
• Some of the practice’s infection control procedures did not take into account the guidelines issued by the Department of Health in the Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices.

Background

Poringland Dental Practice provides 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.

Car parking spaces are available on site.

The dental team includes three dentists, three nurses, a receptionist, and a practice manager. The practice has three treatment rooms, only two of which were in use at the time of our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with two dentists, the practice manager, two nurses and the receptionist. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open on Mondays to Fridays from 9am 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.

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.

• Improve and develop staff awareness of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and ensure all staff are aware of their responsibilities under the Act as it relates to their role.