Updated 2 February 2021
We undertook a focused desk-based review of Hill House Dental Surgery on 11 January 2021. This inspection was carried out to review in detail the actions taken by the registered provider to improve the quality of care and to confirm that the practice was now meeting legal requirements.
The focused follow up review was led by a CQC inspector.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Hill House Dental Surgery on 2 October 2019 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We found the registered provider was not providing well-led care and was in breach of regulation 17 (Good governance) and regulation 19 (Fit and proper persons employed) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can read our report of that inspection by selecting the 'all reports' link for Hill House Dental Surgery on our website www.cqc.org.uk.
As part of this inspection we asked:
• Is it well-led?
When one or more of the five questions are not met we require the service to make improvements and send us an action plan. We then inspect again after a reasonable interval, focusing on the areas where improvement was required.
Our findings were:
Are services well-led?
We found this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
The provider had made improvements in relation to the regulatory breaches we found at our inspection on 2 October 2019.
Background
Hill House Dental Surgery is in Langport, Somerset and provides NHS treatment for adults and children. Patients can also pay privately to see the hygienist.
There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs, although some assistance maybe required upon entry to the practice due to an uneven surface. There is on-street parking near the practice.
The dental team includes two dentists, five qualified dental nurses, two dental hygienists and three receptionists. The practice has three treatment rooms.
The practice is owned by a partnership and as a condition of registration must have a person registered with the Care Quality Commission as the registered manager. Registered managers have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run. The registered manager at Hill House Dental Surgery is the principal dentist.
During the review we spoke with the dentist, who is also the registered manager and a partner of the practice. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
The practice is open:
- Monday 8am – 5pm
- Tuesday 8am – 6pm
- Wednesday 9am – 6pm
- Thursday 9am – 5pm
- Friday 9am – 5pm.
Our key findings were:
- There were systems in place to ensure new staff were recruited safely and employment procedures met current legislation requirements.
- The system to manage fire safety to ensure it complied with legislation had improved.
- The system to ensure staff were complying with legislative requirements for managing sharps had improved.
- Improvements had been made to the system to risk assess the control of substances hazardous to health.
- There were now procedures in place to manage spillages appropriately.
- There was an effective system in place to monitor medical emergencies medicines and equipment to ensure they met current guidelines and safe to use.
- There was a system in place to ensure staff were protected from hepatitis B.
- Staff records were now kept securely. Dental care records were kept as secure as possible, whilst they undertook a gradual process of moving these into a more secure area.