We inspected this service on 17 January 2014 and found the service was not compliant with regulations because the dental practice did not have the correct emergency medicines required to manage foreseeable emergencies. Staff had not had annual appraisals since 2012. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the dental practice was compliant with the regulations which related to the care and welfare of people who use the service and supporting workers.

We saw that the dental practice had emergency medicines to manage foreseeable medical emergencies.

Staff received an annual appraisal and appropriate supervision. A formal induction process was in place to support people who were newly employed.

We spoke with four people who attended the dental practice. People told us they were happy with the practice and felt they were treated with respect and dignity by the dentist and staff at the practice. People made positive comments about staff and indicated they felt safe and well cared for. One person told us, "I am happy. I wouldn’t change my dentist”.

We saw people were kept informed and consulted about their dental options and treatment plans. There were systems in place to gain consent for treatment. People told us, and we saw, evidence that high standards of care and welfare were operating at the practice. We looked at four sets of patient's notes. We observed these included a medical history and were regularly updated to ensure they accurately reflected treatment discussions and choices

Staff had received training to deal with medical emergencies and emergency procedures were in place. The practice however did not have all emergency medicines as recommended by the UK Resuscitation standards 2006.

The premises were clean and well maintained. Decontamination procedures followed Department of Health guidance on decontamination in primary dental care. There were arrangements for infection control checks and daily cleaning tasks as well as auditing processes in place. Staff were knowledgeable regarding infection control and decontamination procedures. There was documented evidence that equipment used had been maintained and inspected by specialist contractors.