The Care Quality Commission
  • Dentist
  • Dentist

The Maltings Dental Surgery

54 The Maltings Shopping Centre, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 3HL (01727) 837376

Provided and run by:
Smileright Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

All Inspections

10 September 2019

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out this unannounced inspection on 10 September 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.

We undertook an inspection in response to concerns received.

We asked the following two questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it well-led?

These questions form part of the framework for the areas we look at during a comprehensive inspection.

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this practice was providing safe 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

The Maltings Dental Surgery is in St Albans, Hertfordshire and provides both NHS and private treatment to adults and children.

The practice is located on the first floor of a building within a shopping centre. There is no level access into the building for people who use wheelchairs or those with pushchairs. There are handrails available to use on the stairs leading to the practice. Car parking is available within the shopping centre.

The dental team includes eight dentists and seven dental nurses. The clinical team are supported by a practice manager, a compliance officer and two receptionists. The practice has five treatment rooms and a designated decontamination room.

The practice is owned by an organisation 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 The Maltings Dental Surgery is the practice manager.

During the inspection we spoke with two dentists, the practice manager, the compliance officer, two dental nurses 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 Friday from 9am to 5.30pm and Saturday from 9am to 3pm.

Our key findings were:

  • The practice appeared clean and well maintained.
  • The provider had detailed infection control procedures which reflected published guidance. We identified that the practice required an extra ultrasonic bath in the decontamination room to suit the needs of the large practice. Furthermore, the illuminated magnifier required a new bulb. Both items were ordered on the day of inspection for delivery the next working day.
  • Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and most pieces of life-saving equipment were available. The emergency kit was missing certain sizes of clear face masks. When we raised this with the practice they immediately ordered the missing sizes to be delivered the next working day.
  • The provider had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
  • The provider had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
  • The provider had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
  • The provider had effective leadership and culture of continuous improvement.
  • Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
  • The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
  • The provider had suitable information governance arrangements.

22 August 2016

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 22 August 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.

The Maltings Dental Practice is a mixed NHS and private practice in central St Albans, Hertfordshire. The practice offers a range of general dental treatment to adults and children. The premises are located in a shopping centre on the ground and first floor and consist of five dental treatment rooms, a large reception and waiting area and a designated decontamination room.

The staff at the practice consist of a six associate dentists (one of whom is the clinical director), a practice manager, two receptionists, two dental nurses and five trainee dental nurses. The practice also has a visiting specialist who provides orthodontic treatment on a private basis.

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

Our key findings were:

  • There was a comprehensive induction programme for staff to follow which ensured they were skilled and competent in delivering safe and effective care and support to patients.

  • The practice ensured staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.

  • There were effective systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection. We found the treatment rooms and equipment were visibly clean.
  • There were systems in place to check equipment had been serviced regularly, including the dental air compressor, autoclaves, fire extinguishers and the X-ray equipment.
  • We found the dentists regularly assessed each patient’s gum health and took X-rays at appropriate intervals.
  • The practice kept up to date with current guidelines when considering the care and treatment needs of patients.

  • The practice placed an emphasis on the promotion of oral and general health and the prevention of dental disease. Appropriate information and advice was available according to patients’ individual needs.

  • Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were readily available.

  • Patients received comprehensive assessments of their oral health needs. They were given clear explanations about their proposed treatment, and its costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about it.

  • Patients were treated with dignity and respect and confidentiality was maintained.

  • The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.

  • There was an effective complaints system and the practice was open and transparent with patients if a mistake had been made.
  • Staff demonstrated knowledge of the practice whistleblowing policy and were confident they would raise a concern about another staff member’s performance if it was necessary.
  • At our visit we observed staff were kind, caring, very welcoming and worked well as a team.
  • There was an effective system in place to act on feedback received from patients and staff.
  • We reviewed 15 Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards that had been completed by patients prior to our inspection. Common themes were patients felt they received a good service from staff who were kind, friendly, efficient and took time to answer their questions.


1 August 2013

During a routine inspection

People told us that they were happy with the service provided and that their dignity was maintained and their privacy protected. They said that they were encouraged to ask questions and they felt that staff had the time to answer them. People reported that staff were good at discussing all their treatment options with them. One person told us, "It's always clean and my dentist talks through the different options with me". We found that the practice listened to patients and care and treatment provided was

recorded.

Overall we found that the practice had good systems in place for ensuring cleanliness and hygiene was maintained although we found that some of the trays used to carry dental equipment were dirty and had limescale on them; we observed that most of these trays were disposed of during the inspection and we were assured that others would be cleaned.

Patient records contained appropriate information and medical histories were regularly checked; although records had not been subject to an audit by the practice. Staff files contained details of training courses attended, although they were not easy to follow and all staff were overdue for their training on basic life support.