Lowedges Dental Care

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection on 7 September 2023 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 practice 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 advisor.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following 5 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:

• The dental clinic appeared clean and well-maintained.
• The practice had infection control procedures which mostly reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with medical emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The practice had systems to manage risks for patients, staff, equipment and the premises.
• Safeguarding processes were in place and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The practice had staff recruitment procedures which reflected current legislation.
• Improvements could be made to monitor and track outgoing referrals.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect. Staff took care to protect patients’ privacy and personal information.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system worked efficiently to respond to patients’ needs.
• The frequency of appointments was agreed between the dentist and the patient, giving due regard to National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
• There was effective leadership and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Improvements could be made to audit systems to ensure they are fully effective.
• Staff felt involved, supported and worked as a team.
• Staff and patients were asked for feedback about the services provided.
• Complaints were dealt with positively and efficiently.
• The practice had information governance arrangements.

Background

Lowedges Dental Care is in Sheffield and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

There is step free access to the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces are available near the practice.

The practice has made reasonable adjustments to support patients with access requirements.

The dental team includes 4 dentists, 5 dental nurses (2 of whom are trainees), 1 dental therapist, 1 practice manager and a practice cleaner. The practice has 2 treatment rooms.

During the inspection we spoke with 2 dentists, 3 dental nurses and the practice manager. We looked at practice policies, procedures and other records to assess how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Monday and Friday 8am to 5pm.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 8am to 6pm.

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

• Improve the practice’s infection control procedures and protocols taking into account the guidelines issued by the Department of Health in the Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices, and having regard to The Health and Social Care Act 2008: ‘Code of Practice about the prevention and control of infections and related guidance’, in particular: replacing heavy duty gloves, use of the light magnifier, dilution of the cleaning solution, pre-soaking used instruments and the reprocessing of spare bagged dental instruments.
• Take action to improve the quality and accuracy of audits, in particular: infection prevention and control, radiography and antimicrobials.
• Improve the current system to ensure patient referrals to other dental or health care professionals are received in a timely manner and not lost.