We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 26th June 2015 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

Oasis Dental Practice Bognor Regis is a mixed dental practice providing NHS and private treatment and caters for both adults and children.

The practice is situated in a converted domestic property. The practice provides services on two floors and had a reception area on the ground floor. This is separate from the ground floor waiting room to provide greater privacy for patients when speaking with reception staff. The practice had six dental treatment rooms and a separate decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments.

The practice had six dentists and four dental nurses one of whom is the practice’s lead nurse. Two dentists work full time and others work part-time hours and one dentist is on maternity leave. There were two part time dental hygienists who provide preventative advice and gum treatments on prescription from the dentists working in the practice. There is also a dental therapist who is currently on maternity leave.

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 10 completed cards. These provided a positive view of the service the practice provides. All of the patients commented that the quality of care was very good. Some patients commented that treatment was explained clearly and the staff were caring and put them at ease. They also said that the reception staff were always helpful and efficient. We spoke with 3 patients who also said that the quality of care was good.

Our key findings were:

• The practice manager and lead nurse were proud of the practice and their team. Staff felt well supported and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.
• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines.
• The practice was visibly clean and well maintained.
• Infection control procedures were robust and the practice followed published guidance.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current professional guidelines
• The practice had effective safeguarding processes in place and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning.
• The practice had enough staff to deliver the service.
• The practice placed an emphasis on the promotion of good oral health and provided regular oral health instruction to patients.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD).
• Information from 10 completed CQC comment cards gave us a positive picture of a friendly, professional service.
• The practice took into account any comments, concerns or complaints and used these to help them improve the practice.
• All complaints were dealt with in an open and transparent way by the practice manager if a mistake had been made.

We spoke with five patients over the telephone following our inspection visit. All of the patients we spoke with were complimentary about the care that they received at The White House Dental Centre. Patients told us that they were involved in decisions that were made about their care. They said that they understood the choices available to them because the dentist at the practice took time to explain their treatments to them.

One patient said, "I am happy with the care I have received, all of the staff are very nice and professional". Another patient said, "I have always had very good treatment from the practice, I have found that it has become harder to get appointments of late. Other than that I have never needed to complain about anything".

We found that the practice provided clear information for patients to make informed choices

about their care. We found that the practice had clear procedures to ensure that patient's

safety and welfare were protected.

We found that the practice took infection control seriously. We also found that staff had been trained to identify signs of abuse and understood the procedures to follow where they suspected abuse may have occurred.

We found that the practice had procedures in place to monitor and ensure that the quality of the service that patients were receiving was of a good standard.