Hull Urgent Dental Centre

We carried out this announced focussed inspection on 9 December 2021 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 asked the following three questions:

• 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:

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 well-led?

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

Background

Hull Urgent Dental Centre provides urgent unscheduled dental care to 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.

The dental team includes three dentists, three dental nurses, one dental hygienist, two receptionists and a practice manager. The practice has two treatment rooms.

The practice is owned by a company and as a condition of registration must have a person registered with the CQC 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 Hull Urgent Dental Centre is the clinical director.

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

The practice is open:

Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm

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.
• 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.
• Improvements could be made to adherence to nationally recognised guidance for the prescribing of antibiotics.
• The provider had effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked as a team.
• The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The provider had information governance arrangements.

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

• Take action to ensure the clinicians take into account nationally recognised evidence-based guidance when prescribing antibiotics.