We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 21 March 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

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 Stamford is part of the Oasis Dental Care network. The service provides a wide range of dental services including specialist treatments such as orthodontic (tooth straightening) and periodontic (specialist gum) treatments. Services are available to NHS and private patients of all ages. The practice is situated close to an NHS community hospital and minor injuries unit. The practice had six dental treatment rooms and a separate decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments. Dental care was provided on two floors with a reception and waiting area on the ground floor.

The practice opens 8am to 7pmMonday to Thursday, 8am to 6pm on Friday and Saturday 8am to 1pm. The practice employs three dentists, an orthodontist, a periodontist and two dental hygienist/ therapists. They were supported by a team of seven trained dental nurses, one trainee dental nurse, a practice manager and four reception staff.

The practice manager has applied to be 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.

We received feedback from ten patients either in person or on CQC comments cards from patients who had visited the practice in the two weeks before our inspection. The cards were all positive and commented about the caring and helpful attitude of the staff. Patients told us they were happy with the care and treatment they had received.

Our key findings were:

• There was appropriate equipment for staff to undertake their duties and the equipment was well maintained.
• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines. Emergency medicines were available in line with the British National Formulary (BNF) guidance for medical emergencies in dental practice.
• Infection control procedures were in place although evidence of staff immunity for Hepatitis B had not been followed up for all staff.
• Dentists provided dental care in accordance with current professional and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
• The practice appeared clean and free from clutter.
• Staff received training and development although the system for annual appraisal was not established.
• Patients told us they were able to get an appointment when they needed one and the staff were kind and helpful.
• Governance arrangements were in place and were being reviewed by the practice manager who had been in post for four months. Recent improvements were being made to ensure the smooth running of the practice. This included the completion of regular audits to help monitor the quality and safety of the service.

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 protocol for completing accurate, complete and detailed records relating to employment of staff. This includes making appropriate notes of verbal reference taken and ensuring recruitment checks, including references, are suitably obtained and recorded.
• Review the protocols and procedures used for the appraisal of all staff.
• Review the complaints process so that learning points are documented and shared with all relevant staff so that the learning and improvements can be demonstrated.

As part of our inspection we spoke with two people who used the service. We also spoke with staff and looked at records.

Overall we observed that people were supported by skilled and experienced staff who understood their roles and responsibilities.

We saw people were treated with dignity and respect.

There were systems in place which enabled people to express their views' about the services and care they received.

We found that people were given choices about the treatment they received.

People told us “No problem making an appointment” and “Very good with children.” One person told us their whole family came here because they were so good.

We asked people if they received information about their treatment and they told us they did.

They told us they liked the text service which the practice used to remind them of their appointments.