We carried out this announced inspection on 25 July 2017 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We planned the inspection to check whether the registered provider was meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations. The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it caring?

• Is it responsive to people’s needs?

• Is it well-led?

These questions form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.

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

De La Warr Dental is in Bexhill on Sea and provides a very small amount of NHS and majority private treatment to patients of all ages.

The practice is situated on the first floor of a shared building and therefore cannot provide level access for people who use wheelchairs and pushchairs. Patients are informed of this at the first point of contact and referred to nearby practices with level access if the stairs into the building pose a problem. Car parking spaces, including spaces for patients with disabled badges, are available near the practice.

The dental team includes one dentist and one dental nurse, who are husband and wife. The practice has two treatment rooms, one of which has been decommissioned.

The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist there. They have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run.

On the day of inspection we collected 39 CQC comment cards filled in by patients and spoke with four other patients. This information gave us a positive view of the practice.

During the inspection we spoke with the dentist and the dental nurse. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Monday to Thursday 8.30pm to 5pm

Friday 8am to 1pm.

Our key findings were:

• The practice was clean and well maintained.
• The practice had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The practice had systems to help them manage risk.
• The practice had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children.
• The practice had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• The appointment system met patients’ needs.
• The practice had effective leadership. Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The practice asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The practice dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.

We identified an area/s of notable practice.

The practice provided a personal service and knew their patients well. Patients received, birthday cards, get well cards and thank you cards from the practice. On the day of our visit some of the equipment had failed and patients appointments were cancelled. Each patient received a thank you card with a store gift card as an apology for the disruption. Patients we spoke with told us that staff at the practice checked in on them if they were unwell and would ensure that they had all they needed such as food, medicines etc during their recovery.

We were unable to speak with people who use the service on this occasion because the family that had booked were not able to attend the surgery on the day. We gathered evidence of people’s experience by reviewing written comments and the complaints log. We found many positive written comments from patients expressing their satisfaction with the service provided, such as “thank you for your service and excellent after care”. No written complaints had been received for the last two years.