The Care Quality Commission
  • Dentist
  • Dentist

Archived: Eccleshall Dental Clinic

6 Castle Street, Eccleshall, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST21 6DF 07929 236862

Provided and run by:
Eccleshall Dental Clinic

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

All Inspections

23 January 2018

During a routine inspection

We carried out this announced inspection on 23 January 2018 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 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 the following five questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it caring?

• Is it responsive to people’s needs?

• 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 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 caring?

We found that this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this practice was providing responsive 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

Eccleshall Dental Clinic is located close to Eccleshall town centre seven miles north west of Stafford. There are two services provided by two different providers at this location. This report only relates to the provision of NHS dental care. An additional report is available in respect of the private contract which is registered under the provider Eccleshall Dental Clinic Limited.

The practice can be accessed via a portable ramp as there is one step leading into the building which limits access for people who use wheelchairs and pushchairs. The ground floor of the practice consists of a reception area, a waiting room, an accessible patient toilet and one dental treatment room. On the first floor there is one dental treatment room, a staff room / office, staff toilet facilities and a decontamination room for the cleaning, sterilising and packing of dental instruments.

The dental team includes two dentists, five dental nurses who also cover reception duties (two of whom are trainee dental nurses), two dental hygiene therapists and a practice manager. The current dentists took over practice ownership approximately three years ago.

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.

On the day of inspection we collected nine CQC comment cards filled in by patients and looked at patient satisfaction survey results. This information gave us a positive view of the practice.

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

The practice is open:

Monday: 8.30am – 8pm

Tuesday: 8.30am – 6pm

Wednesday: 8.30am – 6pm

Thursday: 8.30am – 6pm

Friday: 8.30am – 4.30pm

Our key findings were:

  • The practice appeared clean and well maintained with the exception of a large crack on the upstairs surgery wall and part of this surgery work top which needed resealing. The practice manager advised us that these had been logged in their maintenance book for repair.
  • The practice had infection control procedures which mostly reflected published guidance.
  • Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available with the exception of two airways which were out of date. These were immediately removed and replacements ordered.
  • The practice had systems to help them manage risk. There was a process in place for the reporting and shared learning when untoward incidents occurred in the practice.
  • The practice had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children. Contact details were displayed in the staff room however the practice were not able to locate the safeguarding adult’s policy on the day of our inspection; this was sent to us the following day.
  • The practice had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
  • The dentists provided dental care in accordance with current professional and National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
  • Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
  • The appointment system met patients’ needs. Patients could access treatment and urgent and emergency care when required.
  • The practice had effective leadership. Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
  • The practice asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided. Information from nine completed Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards gave us a positive picture of a friendly, professional and high quality service.
  • The practice dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.

There was an area where the provider could make improvements. They should:

  • Review its responsibilities to the needs of people with a disability, including those with hearing difficulties and the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.

4 August 2015

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 4 August 2015 to ask the practice the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this practice was not 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 caring?

We found that this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

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

Are services well-led?

We found that this practice was not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

Eccleshall Dental Practice was registered in January 2015 to provide dental services to patients

located in the town of Eccleshall and surrounding areas in the county of Staffordshire. The practice provides mainly private dental treatment and some NHS services. Services provided include preventative advice and treatment, routine restorative dental care and cosmetic dental care. The practice has a combined reception and waiting area on the ground floor and treatment rooms on the ground and first floor. The practice is open Monday to Friday each week between the hours of 9am and 5pm and Saturday by appointment only.

The practice has two dentists, they are supported by four dental nurses (one of the practice nurses also carried out receptionist duties), a trainee dental nurse and a practice manager. A dental hygienist and a dental therapist work at the practice and provide a service to patients registered at the practice and referred to them by the dentists. One of the dentists is the registered manager for the practice. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the practice is run.

Seven patients provided feedback about the service. They were positive about the care they received and said that staff were helpful, explained their treatment and were respectful towards them.

Our key findings were:

  • The practice had appropriate systems in place to investigate, respond and ensure staff learned from the outcome of significant events such as complaints.
  • The practice had safeguarding processes and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children.
  • Staff files were not available to confirm that robust recruitment procedures were followed. The practice supported staff in their continued professional development.
  • Patients’ care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines and current legislation and staff received training to meet patients’ treatment needs. Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment,
  • Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were readily available. However, systems were not in place to check all equipment had been serviced regularly. The temperature of the refrigerator used to store medicines was not recorded and medicines and food were stored in the same refrigerator.
  • Procedures and guidelines for the safe taking of X-rays were not followed. The quality of X-rays was not being audited and radiation protection records were not maintained.
  • Procedures for the cleaning and sterilising of dental instruments were not completely followed in line with the ‘Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices’ (HTM01-05) published by the Department of Health. Infection prevention and control (IPC) audits to test the effectiveness of infection control procedures were not carried out.
  • Governance arrangements were not in place to ensure the smooth running of the practice. The practice did not have a structured plan in place to audit quality and safety. This included the mandatory audits for infection control and radiography. Policies and procedures had not been reviewed to ensure staff were appropriately supported. Systems were not in place to gather the views of patients on the services and treatment they received.

We identified regulations that were not being met and the provider must:

  • Establish an effective system to assess, monitor and mitigate the risks arising from undertaking of the regulated activities.
  • Ensure the practice’s infection control procedures and protocols are suitable giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Department of Health - Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices and The Health and Social Care Act 2008: ‘Code of Practice about the prevention and control of infections and related guidance’
  • Ensure audits of various aspects of the service, such as infection control, radiography and dental care records are undertaken at regular intervals to help improve the quality of service. Practice should also ensure all audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.

  • You can see full details of the regulations not being met at the end of this report.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

  • Establish a process to audit various aspects of the service at regular intervals, such as care records and radiography to help improve the quality of service.
  • Review the policies and procedures used throughout the practice to ensure they are up to date and reflect current guidance.
  • Ensure that only medicines are stored in a designated refrigerator and located in a different area of the practice.
  • Have systems in place to obtain the views of patients on the services, the care and treatments they received so that the practice can respond and demonstrate any action taken in response.