Updated 11 January 2022
We carried out this announced inspection on 24 November 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 usually ask five key questions. However, due to the ongoing 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 are three of the five questions that form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.
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 well-led?
We found that this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Background
Charles Landau Dentistry is in the London Borough of Islington and provides private and NHS general dental treatment to adults and children.
The practice is located on the ground floor of a building on a residential street. There is level access into the building for people who use wheelchairs or those with pushchairs. The practice has three treatment rooms and a separate decontamination room.
The team consists of the principal dentist, three associate dentists, two dental nurses, two trainee dental nurses, a practice manager and a receptionist.
The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist there. They have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run.
During the inspection we spoke with the practice manager, the principal dentist, two associate dentists and a dental nurse. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open to patients:
Monday to Thursday from 8am to 4pm.
Friday from 8am to 3pm.
Our key findings were:
- The practice appeared 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 was available.
- 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 clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
- Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
- Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
- 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.
We identified areas of notable practice:
- The staff demonstrated an in-depth understanding and awareness, beyond what would be required, of safeguarding issues.
- The provider worked closely with members of the local community. For example, they worked with a local care home, providing free training to the care home staff on the importance of maintaining good oral health in a residential setting, and providing oral health equipment. This provision continued during the national lockdown period in 2020.
- The provider had implemented a wellbeing policy and created personal holistic wellbeing action plans for each member of staff, which were regularly reviewed. They had organised weekly in-house meditation sessions for all staff to be involved with. There was very positive feedback from staff on this initiative.