Updated 5 March 2020
We undertook a follow up inspection of the practice on 17 February 2020. This 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.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of the practice on 31 July 2019 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 Hooker House Dental Practice on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
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. These must now be embedded in the practice and sustained in the long-term.
Background
Hooker House Dental Surgery is a well-established practice based in Halesworth that provides both NHS and private dental treatment to approximately 10,000 patients. It is one of two owned by the provider in the local area. The dental team includes four dentists, one practice manager, four dental nurses and reception staff. There are four treatment rooms.
The practice opens on Mondays, Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays from 9 am to 5pm. On Tuesdays, the practice is open from 9am until 8pm.
The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist there. He has 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 spoke with the principal dentist, the practice manager and the receptionist.
We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.