Archived: Allan Dental Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 19 January 2017 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.

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

Allan Dental Practice is a dental practice providing NHS and private treatment for both adults and children based in a four storey mid terraced property. The practice provides predominantly NHS treatment to patients of all ages. The practice is also part of a local scheme to provide urgent dental care to unregistered patients one day per week. There are three treatment rooms located over two floors, dedicated decontamination rooms for sterilising dental instruments, a general office and a staff room. Car parking is available on the side-streets near the practice. Access for wheelchair users or pushchairs is possible via the step-free ground floor entrance. The practice employs three dentists, one dental hygienist, six dental nurses, and a practice manager. The practice’s opening hours are Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 5:30pm

The practice manager is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service.

Our key findings were:

• The practice was well organised, visibly clean and free from clutter.
• An infection prevention and control policy was in place. We saw the sterilisation procedures followed recommended guidance.
• The practice had systems for recording incidents and accidents.
• Practice meetings were used for shared learning.
• The practice had a safeguarding policy and staff were aware on how to escalate safeguarding issues for children and adults should the need arise.
• Staff received annual medical emergency training. Equipment for dealing with medical emergencies reflected guidance from the resuscitation council.
• Dental professionals provided treatment in accordance with current professional guidelines.
• Patient feedback was regularly sought and reflected upon.
• Patients could access urgent care when required.
• Dental professionals were maintaining their continued professional development (CPD) in accordance with their professional registration.
• Complaints were dealt with in an efficient and positive manner.

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

• 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 availability of equipment to manage medical emergencies giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Resuscitation Council (UK), and the General Dental Council (GDC) standards for the dental team.
• Review stocks of dental materials and the system for identifying and disposing of out-of-date stock.
• Review the current legionella risk assessment and implement the required actions including the monitoring and recording of water temperatures, giving due regard to the guidelines issued by the Department of Health - Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices and The Health and Social Care Act 2008: ‘Code of Practice about the prevention and control of infections and related guidance
• Review the storage of products identified under Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) 2002 Regulations to ensure they are stored securely.