We carried out a follow-up inspection at Ashfield Dental Care on the 07 November 2017.

We had previously undertaken an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on the 25 April 2017 where breaches of legal requirements were found.

After the comprehensive inspection, the practice wrote to us to say what they would do to meet the legal requirements in relation to each of the breaches. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements.

We reviewed the practice against one of the five questions we ask about services: is the service well-led? You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Ashfield Dental Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

We reviewed documentation as part of this inspection and checked whether Ashfield Dental Care had followed their action plan. This was to confirm that they now met the legal requirements.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we asked the following question:

• Is it well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services well-led?

We found that this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

Ashfield Dental Care is in Chester-Le-Street and provides private treatment to patients of all ages.

Car parking spaces are available along the side streets of the practice.

The dental team includes the principal dentist and three dental nurses, all of whom carry out reception and dental nursing duties. The lead dental nurse also partakes in the management of the practice. The practice has one treatment room which is located on the first floor of the premises.

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

We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Monday, Tuesday and Friday 09:00 -17:00

Wednesday 09:00 -19:00

Thursday 09:00 -12:30

Our key findings were:

• The practice had robust arrangements to ensure the smooth running of the service.
• Staff meetings were scheduled frequently and the practice analysed areas of their work to help them improve and learn.
• The practice had suitable systems in place to help manage various risks including Legionella, sharps, fire and hazardous substances.
• A system for risk assessing and monitoring non-responders to Hepatitis B vaccinations was evident.
• The practice was carrying out audits of various aspects of the service such as X-rays and infection prevention and control.
• National safety alerts were received and disseminated as appropriate.
• Assessment of the needs of different people groups was apparent and a plan was in place to make reasonable adjustments.

We carried out this announced inspection on 25 April 2017 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 CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.

We told the NHS England area team and Healthwatch team that we were inspecting the practice. They did not provide any information.

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

Are services effective?

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

Are services caring?

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

Are services responsive?

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

Are services well-led?

We found that this practice was not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

We spoke with two patients from the practice. One lady was in considerable discomfort with pain and was being seen as an emergency. She said she was pleased to be seen quickly by the dentist.