Archived: Kings Road Dental Practice

We carried out this announced inspection on 9 July 2019 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 provider was meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations. The inspection was led by a 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 five 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:

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 not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

Kings Road Dental Practice is based in Brislington, Bristol and provides NHS and private treatment to adults and children.

There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs via the back of the property. There were no practice car parking spaces. However, people were able to park on residential streets near of the practice.

The dental team includes four dentists, one qualified dental nurse, three trainee dental nurses and two receptionists. The practice has three treatment rooms.

The practice is owned by a partnership and as a condition of registration must have a person registered with the Care Quality Commission as the registered manager. Registered managers 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 registered manager at Kings Road Dental Practice is the principal dentist.

On the day of inspection, we collected 23 CQC comment cards filled in by patients, we received two share your experience forms sent to us prior to our inspection and we spoke with four other patients.

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

The practice is open:  

Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 8:30am-5pm  (closed between 1-2pm), 

Tuesday 8:30-6pm (closed between 1-2pm)

Friday  8:30-2:30pm

Our key findings were:

• The practice appeared clean and well maintained.
• The provider had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The provider had some systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff. Although this could be further improved, particularly in relation to risk assessing fire safety, sharps and control of substances hazardous to health and servicing of some equipment.
• The provider had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The provider needed to improve how it recruited its staff so it met legislation requirements.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• Staff provided preventive care and supporting patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system took account of patients’ needs.
• The provider needed to improve its leadership to ensure continuous improvement including ensuring its policies and procedures reflected latest guidelines and legislation.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided. Although this could be further improved.
• The provider dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
• The provider had suitable information governance arrangements.

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

• Ensure specified information is available regarding each person employed.
• Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care

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

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

• Review the practice's protocols for monitoring and recording the fridge temperature to ensure that medicines and dental care products are being stored in line with the manufacturer’s guidance.
• Review the practice’s protocols for ensuring that all clinical staff have adequate immunity for vaccine preventable infectious diseases.
• Review the practice’s protocols and procedures in relation to the Accessible Information Standard to ensure that that the requirements are complied with.
• Review the practice's storage of dental care records to ensure they are stored securely.