Shah Dental Practice - Brixton

We carried out this announced inspection on 29 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 always ask 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 not 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 not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

Shah Dental Practice - Brixton is in the London Borough of Lambeth and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

The practice is located close to public transport links and car parking spaces are available near the practice.

The dental team includes the principal dentist, one trainee dental nurse and a receptionist/practice manager. The practice has two treatment rooms.

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 principal dentist, the trainee dental nurse and the receptionist/practice 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 9.30am – 5.30pm

Our key findings were:

• The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The provider had safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health. However, improvements were needed to ensure that all important information was suitably recorded within the dental care records.
• The practice appeared to be visibly clean and well-maintained. Improvements, however were needed to the storage arrangements for cleaning equipment.
• Not all equipment used by staff for cleaning and sterilising used dental instruments was validated, maintained and used in line with the manufacturers’ guidance.
• Improvements were needed to the Information Governance policy to take into account the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018 requirements.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Emergency equipment and medicines were not available as described in the Resuscitation Council UK 2021 guidelines.
• Risks to staff and patients from undertaking of the regulated activities had not been suitably identified and mitigated.
• The provider did not have suitable staff recruitment procedures..
• There was ineffective leadership and a lack of management oversight for the day-to-day running of the service.
• There were ineffective systems to ensure facilities were safe and equipment was serviced and maintained according to manufacturers’ guidance.

We identified regulations the provider was not complying with. They must:

• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
• Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

Full details of the regulations the provider was not meeting are at the end of this report.

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

• Implement audits for prescribing of antibiotic medicines taking into account the guidance provided by the Faculty of General Dental Practice.