We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection on 25 February 2016 to ask the practice the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

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 providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

88 High Street Dental Practice has one dentist and two qualified dental nurses who are registered with the General Dental Council (GDC). There is also one trainee dental nurse. The practice’s opening hours are from 8.45am to 6pm Monday to Friday and from 7.45am to 1pm on Saturday.

88 High Street Dental Practice provides NHS and private treatment for adults and children. The practice is situated in a converted property. There are three dental treatment rooms located on the ground floor. There is a separate decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments. There is also a reception and waiting area on the ground floor.

The practice manager 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.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We collected 31 completed cards. These provided a positive view of the services the practice provides. All of the patients commented that the quality of care was good.

Our key findings were:

• Systems were in place for the recording and learning from significant events and accidents.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect.
• The practice was visibly clean and well maintained.
• Staff had been trained to deal with medical emergencies.
• The practice kept up to date with current guidelines when considering the care and treatment needs of patients.
• Infection prevention and control systems were in place, and audits were completed on a six monthly basis.
• Options for treatment were identified and explored and patients said they were involved in making decisions about their treatment.
• Patients’ confidentiality was maintained.
• The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.
• Patients’ care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines, best practice and current legislation
• Health promotion advice was given to patients appropriate to their individual needs such as smoking cessation or dietary advice.
• Some staff from within the practice visited local schools to provide oral health and hygiene advice to children.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Review the practice’s arrangements for receiving and responding to patient safety alerts, recalls and rapid response reports issued from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and through the Central Alerting System (CAS), as well as from other relevant bodies such as, Public Health England (PHE).
• Review the procedures for completing accurate, complete and detailed records. This should include a date of implementation and review on policies, contact details of the local authority responsible for safeguarding investigations on the adult and child safeguarding policies, dates of staff appraisal and satisfaction surveys and methods of identifying staff that have completed tasks such as cleaning schedules. Establish an accessible system for identifying, receiving, recording, handling and responding to verbal complaints made by patients.
• Review availability of equipment to manage medical emergencies giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Resuscitation Council (UK), and the General Dental Council (GDC) standards for the dental team.
• Review the storage of dental care products and medicines requiring refrigeration to ensure they are stored in line with the manufacturer’s guidance and the fridge temperature is monitored and recorded.
• Review the practice’s local rules ensuring that correct details are recorded.
• Review the training, learning and development needs of individual staff members and have an effective process established for the on-going assessment and supervision of all staff which enables staff to raise issues or concerns and to receive feedback about their work at the practice.