We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 22 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 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

Cedars Endo practice is situated in Windlesham, Surrey. The practice provides specialist endodontic (root canal) services, on referral from other dentists. Services provided are wholly private and fees are displayed in the practice and on the website. The practice provides all the facilities required in a modern dental practice including digital radiographic equipment, and an operating microscope. Parking is available at the practice.

The practice has one treatment room, a waiting area and a local decontamination unit. The waiting room and treatment room are on the ground floor of the premises.

The practice has a principal dentist / provider who is also 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 practice is open Tuesday and Friday, 8.30am to 5.00pm and alternate Saturdays 9am to 1pm. For emergency and out of hours assistance contact information is available from the practice telephone answering service.

We reviewed 14 CQC comment cards that had been left for patients to complete, prior to our visit, about the services provided. We spoke with one patient on the day of our inspection and contacted another five patients following our inspection. Feedback from patients was positive about the care they received from the practice. They commented staff put them at ease, listened to their concerns and provided an excellent service they told us they had complete confidence in the dental care provided.

Our key findings were:

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

• The treatment room was well organised and equipped, with good light and ventilation.

• There were systems in place to check all equipment had been serviced regularly, including the air compressor, autoclave, fire extinguishers, oxygen cylinder and the X-ray equipment.

• The practice carried out oral health assessments and planned treatment in line with current best practice guidance, for example from UCL Eastman Dental Institute the leading provider of these specialist services Patient dental care records were detailed and showed monitoring of patients’ oral health.

• There were systems in place to help ensure the safety of staff and patients. These included safeguarding children and adults from abuse, maintaining the required standards of infection prevention and control and responding to medical emergencies.

• Staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.

• Staff were up to date with current guidelines and the practice was led by a proactive principal dentist / provider.

• Staff were kind, caring, competent and put patients at ease.

• Patients commented they felt involved in their treatment and that it was fully explained to them. Common themes from the CQC comment cards were patients felt they received very good care in a clean environment from a helpful practice team.

• The dental practice had effective clinical governance and risk management processes in place; including health and safety and the management of medical emergencies.

 • The practice had a comprehensive system to monitor and  continually improve the quality of the service; including through a detailed programme of clinical and non-clinical audits.