Archived: Steve Watkins Dental Practice

We carried out this announced inspection on 15 October 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 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 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 this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found this practice was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

Steve Watkins Dental Practice is in Worle, Weston-Super-Mare and provides NHS and 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. Car parking spaces are available near the practice in a public car park which has designated spaces for blue badge holders.

The dental team includes one dentist, two dental nurses, one dental hygienist and one receptionist. The practice has three treatment rooms.

The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist. They have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run.

On the day of inspection, we collected 45 CQC comment cards filled in by patients and spoke with three other patients.

During the inspection we spoke with one dentist, one dental nurse, and one receptionist. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

• Monday to Thursday 09.00am – 12.30pm and 2.00pm – 5.30pm
• Friday 09.00am – 1.00pm and 1.30pm – 4.30pm
• Closed at weekends

Our key findings were:

• The practice appeared to be visibly 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 although improvements were needed to ensure all sizes of oropharyngeal airways were present.
• The provider had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
• The provider had safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The provider had staff recruitment procedures which reflected current legislation.
• 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 supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system took account of patients’ needs.
• The provider had effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Staff felt involved, supported and worked as a team.
• The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The provider dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
• The provider had information governance arrangements.

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

• Take action to implement any recommendations in the practice fire safety risk assessment and ensure ongoing fire safety management is effective.

• Take action to ensure the availability of equipment and in the practice to manage medical emergencies as stated in the guidelines issued by the Resuscitation Council (UK) and the General Dental Council.
• Take action to ensure all clinical staff have adequate immunity for vaccine preventable infectious diseases through a post vaccination blood test.
• Take action to ensure the practice stores dental care records securely.
• Take action to ensure audits of radiography and infection prevention and control 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.