We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection on 09 June 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

Corner House Dental Practice is a dental practice providing mostly NHS dental treatment, with private treatment options for patients. The practice is located in premises in Battle East Sussex. There is ample parking facilities in the area.

The practice has three treatment rooms, one of which is on the ground floor.

The practice provides dental services to both adults and children. The practice provides mostly NHS treatment (90%). Services provided include general dentistry, dental hygiene, crowns and bridges, and root canal treatment. Patients also have the option of private treatment options such as implants and cosmetic dentistry.

The practice’s opening hours are – Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 6pm and Friday 8am to 4pm and Saturday by appointment only.

Access for urgent treatment outside of opening hours is by telephoning the practice and following the instructions on the answerphone message or by telephoning the 111 NHS service.

The principal dentist/owner is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual. 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 has two dentists; three qualified dental nurses, two receptionists, three trainee dental nurses and a practice manager.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to tell us about their experience of the practice. We collected 25 completed cards and looked at 16 recent NHS Friends and Family forms which were available at the practice. We collected the views of a further 3 patients who attended on the day of our inspection.

Our key findings were:

• The practice was visibly clean and tidy.
• Records showed there were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Patients at the practice gave mostly positive feedback about their experiences at the practice.
• The practice was well equipped.
• Dentists identified the different treatment options, and discussed these with patients.
• Patients’ confidentiality was maintained.
• The practice followed the relevant guidance from the Department of Health's: ‘Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 (HTM 01-05) for infection control with regard to cleaning and sterilizing dental instruments. Apart from consistent use of the illuminated magnifying glass to ensure that all instruments were free of debris and undamaged.
• The practice had the necessary equipment for staff to deal with medical emergencies, and staff had been trained how to use that equipment. This included an automated external defibrillator, oxygen and emergency medicines.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

•  Review its responsibilities to the needs of people with a disability and the requirements of the equality Act 2010 and consider installing a hearing induction loop at the premises. This would assist patients who used a hearing loop to hear whilst in the practice.
• Review the processes for learning from complaints to include reviewing trends and putting into place appropriate actions