The Dental Surgery

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection on 20 November 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 practice had staff recruitment procedures which reflected current legislation.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect. Staff took care to protect patients’ privacy and personal information.
• Staff felt involved, supported and worked as a team.
• Patients were asked for feedback about the services provided.
• Complaints were dealt with positively and efficiently.
• The practice had information governance arrangements.
• The dental clinic appeared generally clean. However, work surfaces in the clinical area and the decontamination room were cluttered and not impervious.
• The practice infection control procedures did not reflect published guidance.
• Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were not available. Improvements were needed to staff`s knowledge about the management of medical emergencies.
• The practice did not have effective systems to manage risks for patients, staff, equipment and the premises.
• There were ineffective processes in place to prevent abuse of vulnerable adults and children.
• Improvements were needed to clinical staff`s understanding of the current clinical guidelines.
• Improvements were needed to ensure patient care records were complete and included adequate details of the care provided.
• There was a lack of effective governance and there were no systems in place to support continuous improvement.

Background

The Dental Surgery is in Temple Fortune, in the London Borough of Barnet and provides private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

The practice had two small steps at the entrance and there were processes in place to communicate this to patients prior to their appointments. Car parking spaces are available near the practice.

The dental team includes 2 principal dentists and 1 qualified dental nurse. The practice has 2 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with all members of staff. We looked at practice policies, procedures and other records to assess how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Monday to Thursday from 9am to 5pm

Friday from 9am to 1pm.

We identified regulations the provider was/ not complying with. They must:

• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
• Ensure sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced persons are deployed to meet the fundamental standards of care and treatment.
• Ensure persons employed in the provision of the regulated activities receive appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal necessary to enable them to carry out their duties.
• Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

Full details of the regulations the provider was not meeting are at the end of this report.

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

• Take action to ensure audits of record keeping and antimicrobial prescribing are undertaken at regular intervals to improve the quality of the service. The practice should also ensure that, where appropriate, audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.