A dental practice has been criticised in a CQC inspection that revealed a litany of health and safety concerns.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited The Rickmansworth Dental Centre on August 8 before publishing its report this month, saying safety improvements are needed and legal requirements were not being met in terms of good governance.
Outside of these issues there were strong areas and positive patient feedback. Inspectors found the practice provided effective care, caring services, and responded to patients' needs.
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Five categories were inspected and, while the ‘caring’, ‘effective’ and ‘responsive to people’s needs’ categories were fine, there were issues with ‘safe’ and ‘well-led’.
According to the inspectors, the systems and processes in place failed to mitigate risks to the health, safety, and welfare of its patients.
This included training issues and recruitment issues for staff, as well as issues with monitoring hazardous chemicals and the temperature a type of medicine was stored at.
Several audits were also not carried out in line with legislation.
As well as the enforcement action in the ‘well led’ category, a requirements notice was given in the ‘safe’ category.
Improvements were required to the infection control procedures, relating to the storage of dental instruments.
The taps in one surgery had limescale buildup and fire risks had not been appropriately assessed or mitigated. The report said a large volume of inflammable items stored in the attic were identified in the risk assessment, but no action had been taken to address the risk.
On the day of the inspection, the batteries in the smoke alarms had been removed. These were replaced on the day.
Despite the issues, the report said: “The impact of our concerns, in terms of the safety of clinical care, is minor for patients using the service.
“Once the shortcomings have been put right the likelihood of them occurring in the future is low.”
Dr Adam Deitsch, who runs the centre, said: "We are disappointed that the CQC considered that the required standards were not met. This was mainly due to regulatory paperwork.
"We were pleased that the CQC report recognised that the treatment we are providing is to a high standard, that the patients are very satisfied with the treatment they are receiving and that the staff are happy working in the practice."
He added: "The enforcement notice was due to our hygienist not putting her instruments in a pouch after she had sterilised them. This was brought to her attention and she is now pouching the instruments correctly.
"All risk assessments recommended by the CQC have been satisfactorily completed."
The CQC has been informed of the actions and "no enforcement action will occur", Dr Deitsch said.
"We have been providing ethical, high-quality dental treatment in Rickmansworth for over 23 years and hope to serve the community for many years to come," he added.
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