Archived: Dental Studio @ Bromley Park - Bickley

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 21 January 2016 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.

Background

Dental Studio @ Bromley Park - Bickley is located in the London Borough of Bromley. The premises are situated on the first floor of a multi-use health care building which also houses a GP practice as well as counselling and physiotherapy services. There are two treatment rooms, a decontamination room, reception area and patient toilets on the first floor.

The practice provides private services to adults and children. The practice offers a range of dental services including routine examinations and treatment, veneers and crowns and bridges.

The staff structure of the practice consists of a principal dentist, a trainee nurse, a head receptionist and another part-time receptionist.

The practice opening hours are Monday from 9.00am to 6.00pm, Tuesday from 8.00am to 4.00pm, Wednesday from 8.00am to 1.00pm, Thursday from 11.00am to 7.00pm and Friday from 9.00am to 5.00pm. The practice also operates a flexible system for opening on Saturday mornings, at patients’ request.

The principal dentist is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. 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.

The inspection took place over one day and was carried out by a CQC inspector and a dental specialist advisor.

Nine people provided feedback about the service. Patients were positive about the care they received from the practice. They were complimentary about the friendly and caring attitude of the dental staff.

Our key findings were:

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned in line with current guidance such as from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

• There were effective systems in place to reduce and minimise the risk and spread of infection.
• The practice had effective safeguarding processes in place and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• Staff knew how to report incidents and how to record details of these so that the practice could use this information for shared learning.
• Equipment, such as the air compressor, autoclave (steriliser), fire extinguishers, and X-ray equipment had all been checked for effectiveness and had been regularly serviced.
• Patients indicated that they felt they were listened to and that they received good care from a helpful and caring practice team, but opportunities for patients to provide systematic feedback were limited.
• The practice ensured staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients, but had not checked the skills and competence of a visiting health care professional engaged to carry out complex procedures at the premises.
• The practice had implemented clear procedures for managing comments, concerns or complaints.
• The provider had a clear vision for the practice and staff told us they were well supported by the management team.
• Governance arrangements were in place for the smooth running of the practice; however improvements could be made to undertake and use audits to effectively monitor and improve the quality of the service.

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

• Review the use of audits as a tool to help improve the quality of the service. The practice should also ensure all audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.
• Review the practice’s arrangements for receiving and responding to patient safety alerts, recalls and rapid response reports issued from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and through the Central Alerting System (CAS), as well as from other relevant bodies, such as Public Health England (PHE).
• Review and maintain accurate, complete and detailed records relating to staff employment and ensure that all staff including visiting health care professionals have been subject to relevant checks, and appropriate records are held, in line with Schedule 3 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
• Review the practice’s sharps procedures giving due regard to the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013.
• Review the information contained within the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 file to ensure that it is up to date and all staff understand how to minimise risks associated with these substances.
• Review stocks of medicines and equipment and the system for identifying, and disposing of out-of-date stock.
• Review the processes and systems in place for seeking and learning from patient feedback with a view to monitoring and improving the quality of the service.