Archived: Stratfield Road Dental Practice

We carried out this announced inspection on 19 February 2020 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 two specialist dental advisers.

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

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 caring?

We found this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found this practice was providing responsive 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

Stratfield Road Dental Practice is in Basingstoke and provides NHS and private dental care and treatment for adults and children.

There is level access to the practice for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces, including those for people with disabilities, are available near the practice.

The dental team includes one dentist, one dental nurse, one trainee dental nurse and one receptionist. The practice has one treatment room.

The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist. 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.

On the day of inspection, we collected 19 CQC comment cards filled in by patients and spoke with three other patients.

During the inspection we spoke with one dentist, one dental nurse and the receptionist. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

• Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.
• Saturdays by arrangement.

Our key findings were:

• The practice appeared to be visibly clean and well-maintained.
• The provider had safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system took account of patients’ needs.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked as a team.
• The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The provider dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
• The provider had information governance arrangements.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines in most cases. However they did not carry out periodontal care or root canal treatment completely in accordance with guidance.
• Staff, although trained, were not confident in using emergency medicines or equipment.
• The provider had limited systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.

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 regulation 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 Practitioners.

• Take action to ensure the availability of an interpreter service for patients who do not speak English as their first language.

• Implement a system to ensure patient referrals to other dental or health care professionals are centrally monitored to ensure they are received in a timely manner and not lost.