Updated 13 May 2019
We undertook a focused inspection of Genix Healthcare Dental Clinic – Alnwick on 15 April 2019.
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 remotely by a specialist dental adviser.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Genix Healthcare Dental Clinic – Alnwick on 20 November 2018 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 Genix Healthcare Dental Clinic – Alnwick on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
As part of this inspection we asked:
• 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 improvements were required.
Our findings were:
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 breach we found at our inspection on 20 November 2018.
Background
Genix Healthcare Dental Clinic – Alnwick is in Northumberland and provides predominantly NHS treatment, and some private treatment, to adults and children. The dental practice was built in 2010 as part of the Genix Healthcare Ltd group of practices. Situated in a business park, the purpose-built practice has four treatment rooms, two of which are on the ground floor. There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces are available near the practice.
The dental team is comprised of five dentists, four trainee dental nurses, a practice manager who is also a qualified dental nurse, and two receptionists.
The practice is owned by a company 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 Genix Healthcare Dental Clinic – Alnwick is the practice manager.
During the inspection we spoke with the practice manager and the company’s area manager.
We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
Monday and Wednesday 8.30am to 6pm
Tuesday and Thursday 8.30am to 7.30pm
Friday 9am to 5pm.
Our key findings were:
- The practice had effective leadership. Systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff had improved.
- The provider had improved their staff recruitment procedures.
- Policies were made practice specific and updated where needed.
- Recommended actions from the Legionella risk assessment were implemented.
- Hazardous substances were stored and labelled appropriately.
- Recent significant events were recorded and responded to appropriately.
- All dental equipment within the premises was checked to ensure it was compliant with regulations.