The Care Quality Commission
  • Dentist
  • Dentist

Broadwalk Dental Centre

5 East Walk, Harlow, Essex, CM20 1JH 07766 688855

Provided and run by:
Gentle Dental Care

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

All Inspections

01/08/2023

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We undertook a follow up inspection of Broadwalk Dental Centre on the 1 August 2023. 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 provider was now meeting legal requirements.

We had previously undertaken a comprehensive inspection of the practice on 14 March 2023 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 well-led care and was in breach of regulation 17 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 Broadwalk Dental Centre on our website www.cqc.org.uk.

When 1 or more of the 5 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.

As part of this inspection, we asked:

• Is it well-led?

Our findings were:

We found this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations. The provider had made sufficient improvements in relation to the regulatory breach we found at our previous inspection. In general improvements were noted in recruitment procedures, health and safety risk assessment, staff training, and overall governance.

Background

Broadwalk Dental Centre is based in Harlow and provides both NHS funded and private dental care and treatment for adults and children. In addition to general dentistry, the practice also provides sedation services. The practice is part of Gentle Dental Care, a group dental provider.

The practice is located in the same premises as another dental practice, and both share some of the running costs and expenses.

The premises are accessible for wheelchair users and there is public car parking nearby.

The dental team includes 4 dentists, a dental hygienist, a practice manager, 3 dental nurses and a receptionist. There is 1 treatment room.

During the inspection we spoke with the current registered manager, the practice manager and a new staff member who was about to apply to become the registered manager. We reviewed practice policies and procedures.

14/03/2023

During a routine inspection

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection on 14 March 2023 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 specialist dental adviser.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask 5 key questions:

  • Is it safe?
  • Is it effective?
  • Is it caring?
  • Is it responsive?
  • Is it well-led?

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

Our findings were:

  • Safeguarding processes were in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
  • Staff knew how to deal with medical emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
  • 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.
  • Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
  • Patients were asked for feedback about the services provided.
  • Appropriate pre-employment references and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks had not always been obtained for new staff.
  • Oversight of staff training was limited, and there was no system in place to ensure all staff completed the required training.
  • Dental chairs, cabinetry and flooring in the practice was damaged and had not been well maintained.
  • Overall governance systems in the practice needed to strengthen to ensure a safe service was provided.

Background

Broadwalk Dental Centre is based in Harlow and provides both NHS funded and private dental care and treatment for adults and children. It is one of a group of six dental practices run by the provider. In addition to general dentistry, the practice also provides sedation services.

The practice is accessible for wheelchair users and there is public car parking nearby.

The practice is located in the same premises as another dental practice, and both share some of the running costs and expenses.

The dental team includes 4 dentists, a dental hygienist, a practice manager, 3 dental nurses and a receptionist. There are 2 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, the practice manager, a dentist, a dental nurse, and the receptionist.

We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open on Mondays to Fridays from 9.30am to 5pm.

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

  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care. Full details of the regulation the provider was not meeting are at the end of this report.

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

  • Implement a system to ensure patient referrals to other dental or health care professionals are actively monitored to ensure they are received in a timely manner and not lost.