We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 15 October 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.

Cosmo Dental Practice provides private, general dental services to patients of all ages. The team at the practice is led by a principal dentist supported by three associate dentists, two dental nurses, one trainee dental nurse and a receptionist. The practice is open Monday-Friday 9.30-5pm (closed for lunch 1-2pm).

The practice is in a single storey building. There are three treatment rooms, a reception/patient waiting area, accessible patient toilet and a dedicated room where reusable dental instruments are washed and sterilised (a process known as decontamination). The practice is accessible to patients with restricted mobility as treatments are carried out on one floor.

The dentist 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.

Sixteen people provided feedback about the service. All patients commented positively about the care and treatment they had received and the friendly, polite and professional staff. A number of patients commented on the discussions they had with the dentist about their care and treatment; and about how they felt listened to and were made to feel relaxed.

Our key findings were:

• The practice provided a clean, well equipped environment.
• Where mistakes had been made patients were notified about the outcome of any investigation and given a suitable apology.
• There was promotion of patient education to ensure good oral health.
• The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.
• The practice had an accessible and visible leadership team. Staff told us they felt supported by the principal dentist.
• Governance arrangements were in place, though improvements could be made to ensure continuous improvement in the quality and safety of the services.
• There were a range of clinical and non-clinical audits to monitor the quality of services, (including mandatory audits for radiography); improvements could however be made to ensure results were analysed to inform learning and drive service improvement.
• The practice sought feedback from staff and patients about the services they provided.

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

• Review the practice’s infection control procedures and protocols giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Department of Health - Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices and The Health and Social Care Act 2008: ‘Code of Practice about the prevention and control of infections and related guidance.’
• Review its audit protocols to document learning points that are shared with all relevant staff and ensure that the resulting improvements can be demonstrated as part of the audit process.
• Review the protocols and procedures to ensure staff are up to date with their mandatory training and their Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
• Review the training, learning and development needs of individual staff members at appropriate intervals and ensure an effective process is established for the on-going assessment, supervision and appraisal of all staff.