We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 25 May 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

Oasis Dental Care Southern – Banstead is a dental practice that is a part of Oasis Dental Care (Southern) Limited. Oasis Dental Care Limited is a large corporate provider of dental services across England. The practice Oasis Dental Care Southern – Banstead is located next to residential properties that are located along the A217 in Surrey. The practice has a car park available at the front of the property for patients and staff to park. The practice has two levels. The ground level has the reception area, a waiting area, three treatment rooms a staff room with an office space and a two toilets. The first floor level has a sub waiting area for patients, a further three treatment rooms, a decontamination room and an X-ray room.

The practice provides NHS and private services to adults and children. The practice offers a range of general dental services including routine examinations and treatment, orthodontics, implants, dentures, veneers, crowns and bridges.

The practice staffing consisted of six dentists, three dental hygienists, five dental nurses, three receptionists, a treatment co-ordinator and a practice manager. There is a larger support network that is located at headquarters in Bristol that provides support as part of the wider corporate management structure.

The practice opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 8.00am to 7.00pm and Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm.

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.

The inspection took place over one day and was carried out by a CQC inspector and a dental specialist advisor.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission (CQC) comments cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. Twelve people provided feedback about the service. All patient’s comments were positive about the care they received from the practice. They were complimentary about the friendly and caring attitude of the dental staff.

Our key findings were:

• Patients were involved in their care and treatment planning so they could make informed decisions.
• The practice had an ongoing programme of risk assessments and audits which were used to drive improvement.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned in line with current guidance such as from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

• There were effective processes in place to reduce and minimise the risk and spread of infection.

• Equipment, such as the air compressor, autoclave (steriliser), fire extinguishers, and X-ray equipment had all been checked for effectiveness and had been regularly serviced.
• The practice had effective safeguarding processes in place and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and child protection.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and confidentiality was maintained.
• The practice had implemented clear procedures for managing comments, concerns or complaints.
• Patients indicated that they found the team to be efficient, professional, caring and reassuring.
• All clinical staff were up to date with their continuing professional development.
• There was a comprehensive induction and training programme for staff to follow which ensured they were skilled and competent in delivering safe and effective care and support to patients.

We saw that the electronic records contained up to date medical histories and treatment plans for each patient. We saw that the system had a medical alert function in place which required the dentist to read before proceeding along with a set of questions around medical history updates, recall period and antibiotic prescribing.

We saw that the practice had a dedicated decontamination room for the decontamination and sterilisation of the dental instruments. We observed a dental nurse who demonstrated the decontamination process undertaken to sterilise re-usable dental instruments. A chart displayed on the wall confirmed that the autoclaves used for sterilising equipment were tested each morning and a book containing print outs from each sterilising cycle was kept to confirm the autoclave was working at the appropriate temperature.

We observed that posters and leaflets within the practice had information for patients about how make a complaint. The registered manager told us about the complaints policy and how a timeline exists to manage the complaint effectively. We were told by the registered manager of an example of a complaint made and how it was anonymised and discussed at practice meeting to talk about how lessons can be learnt and similar incidents will not happen in the future.