Archived: 310 Dental Care

The provider told us, by sending us an action plan, that the issues that gave rise to non-compliance had been addressed. We carried out this visit to verify that the actions the provider told us they had taken had been carried out.

During our visit we met with the practice manager and the registered manager. We looked at staff files, documents relating to risk assessments and at the storage facilities for patient records.

We found that patients were protected from the risk and spread of infection because appropriate guidance had been followed.

The provider had introduced systems to support staff to deliver high standards of care and treatment.

We found records, including patient treatment records, were stored securely and were not accessible to anyone other than staff.

We did not speak with any patients on the day because this was a follow up visit focussing on the issues found to be non-compliant when we visited the practice in March 2013.

The decontamination process was well documented and the staff very knowledgeable and carried out the procedures in line with national guidelines HTM01-05. However we found no evidence of a Legionella risk assessment to ensure patient safety from water systems.

We spoke with the staff who all said that they received good support from the practice manager but found that staff were not supported to maintain continuing professional development as required by the General Dental Council. There was no system of appraisal in place to ensure that staff practice was reviewed and that personal development and training needs were identified.