Archived: D R Walker - Lincolnshire

Updated 12 August 2016

We carried out these inspections under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The inspections were planned to check whether the registered provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

This inspection was triggered as a result of concerning information which we had received.

The unannounced inspection was carried out by a dentally qualified CQC inspector who was supported by another CQC inspector. The follow up inspection was carried out by a dentally qualified CQC inspector who also had access to remote advice from a specialist advisor.

During the inspections we spoke with the trainee dental nurse and the receptionist. The registered manager was not in the practice on the days of inspection. We spoke with the registered manager on the telephone during the inspections.

Updated 12 August 2016

We carried out an unannounced inspection on 18 July 2016 and a follow up inspection on 27 July 2016 to ask the practice the following key question; Is the service safe? We undertook the inspection acting on information of concern which we received on 15 July 2016.

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

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

Background

D R Walker – Lincolnshire is situated in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. It offers private dental care services. The services provided include preventative advice and treatment and routine restorative dental care.

There is one working surgery, a decontamination room, a waiting area and a reception area. The reception area, waiting area and the surgery are on the ground floor of the premises.

There is one dentist (the practice owner), one trainee dental nurse and a receptionist.

The practice owner is the registered manager. 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.

Our key findings on our initial inspection were

• The autoclave had broken approximately two weeks before our visit and had been sent for repair.
• We saw evidence that patients had been treated since the autoclave had been absent.
• We were told by staff that the registered manager had told them to clean the used dental hand pieces and ultrasonic scalers with bleach.

At the follow up visit we saw that

• Immediate action had been taken to ensure that a working autoclave and an appropriate infection control policy and procedures were in place.
• The practice had been closed to patients until the infection control practices were up to the required standard.