The Care Quality Commission
  • Dentist
  • Dentist

Trinity Dental Practice

12 Trinity Trees, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 3LE (01323) 727550

Provided and run by:
Trinity Dental Practice Partnership

Important: The provider of this service changed - see old profile

All Inspections

30 November 2023

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We undertook a follow up focused inspection of Trinity Dental Practice on 30 November 2022. This inspection was carried out to review in detail the actions taken by the registered provider to improve the quality of care and to confirm that the practice was now meeting legal requirements.

The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.

We undertook a focused inspection of Trinity Dental Practice on 25 May 2022 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We found the registered provider was not providing safe and well led care and was in breach of regulations 12 Safe care and treatment and 17 Good governance of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can read our report of that inspection by selecting the 'all reports' link for Trinity Dental Practice on our website www.cqc.org.uk.

As part of this inspection we asked:

• Is it safe?

• Is it well-led?

When one or more of the five questions are not met, we require the service to make improvements and send us an action plan. We then inspect again after a reasonable interval, focusing on the areas where improvement was required.

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

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

The provider had made improvements in relation to the regulatory breaches we found at our inspection on 25 May 2022.

Are services well-led?

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

The provider had made improvements in relation to the regulatory breaches we found at our inspection on 25 May 2022.

Background

The provider has 27 practices and this report is about Trinity Dental Practice

Trinity Dental Practice is in Eastbourne and provides NHS and private treatment for adults and children.

The practice is accessed by several steps which is not suitable for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces, including some for blue badge holders, are available near the practice.

The dental team includes 2 dentists, 2 trainee dental nurses, a dental hygienist, a dental hygiene therapist, 2 receptionists and a practice manager. The practice has 3 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with a dentist, 2 trainee dental nurses, 2 receptionists and the practice manager. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm

Our key findings were:

  • The dental clinic appeared to be visibly clean and better maintained, further improvements were required and were being planned.
  • Staff knew how to deal with medical emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
  • The practice had implemented systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
  • The appointment system took account of patients’ needs, where possible as another dentist had been appointed.
  • There were improvements with the way complaints were dealt with and further improvements were being implemented.
  • Arrangements for clinical governance had improved with further improvements in progress.

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

  • Improve the practice's systems for checking and monitoring equipment taking into account relevant guidance and ensure that all equipment is well maintained. In particular, Portable appliance testing annually.
  • Take action to ensure audits of disability access, antimicrobial prescribing and the quality of X-ray images are undertaken at the correct 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.

25 May 2022

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out this announced focused inspection on 25 May 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 second inspector and a specialist dental adviser.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment,

We usually ask five key questions, however due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to reduce time spent on site, only the following three questions were asked:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it well-led?

These questions form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.

Our findings were:

  • There were areas of the practice which were visibly unclean and dusty.
  • The practice had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
  • Staff knew how to deal with medical emergencies. Appropriate medicines but not all life-saving equipment were available.
  • The practice had systems to help them manage some risk to patients and staff and these required improvement.
  • Safeguarding processes were in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
  • The practice had staff recruitment procedures which reflected current legislation.
  • The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
  • Patients were treated with dignity and respect and staff took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
  • Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
  • The appointment system did not always take account of patients’ needs.
  • Systems for dealing with complaints were being updated to ensure these were dealt with positively and efficiently.
  • The dental clinic had some information governance arrangements.

Staff integrity and dishonesty

Background

The provider has 27 practices and this report is about Trinity Dental Practice.

Trinity Dental Practice is in Eastbourne and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

The practice is accessed via several steps. Car parking spaces are available near the practice.

The dental team includes one dentist, two trainee dental nurses, one dental hygienist/therapist, two receptionists and a practice manager. The practice has three treatment rooms.

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

The practice is open:

Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.30pm

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

  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients
  • 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.