We carried out this announced inspection on 12 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.

We told the NHS England area team and Healthwatch that we were inspecting the practice. They did not provide any information of concern.

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

Dental Surgery - Kings Medical Centre is in Normanton, West Yorkshire and provides NHS and private treatment to adults and children and NHS orthodontic care to children.

There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and pushchairs. The practice shares a car park with the medical centre and there are dedicated spaces for patients with disabled badges.

The dental team includes nine dentists, 13 dental nurses (two of whom are trainees), one dental hygiene therapist, one receptionist (who is also a qualified dental nurse), a practice manager and an assistant practice manager (who are also both qualified dental nurses). The practice has five treatment rooms and an X-ray room. The premises are located in a purpose built medical centre and many facilities are shared including meeting rooms and staff areas.

The practice is owned by a company and as a condition of registration must have a person registered with the Care Quality Commission as the registered manager. Registered managers 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 registered manager at Dental Surgery - Kings Medical Centre was the practice manager.

On the day of inspection we received feedback from 21 patients. This information gave us a positive view of the practice.

During the inspection we spoke with three dentists, four dental nurses, the assistant practice manager and the practice manager. We also spoke with a healthcare worker from the medical centre.

We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Monday from 8:30am to 7:30pm

Tuesday to Friday from 8:30am to 5:15pm

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. They had strong links with the local safeguarding team.
• The practice had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• The practice provided “open days” for local schools and invited them into the practice to receive dietary advice and tooth brushing instruction.
• 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 of notable practice through visible leadership within the practice. Staff felt empowered, were happy and confident in their roles. An example of this is:

• They worked closely with the safeguarding team in the medical centre and were involved in multi-agency child protection meetings. They formed part of the team, shared information and actively supported children on care plans and their families.

We saw the practice encouraged patient feedback through patient surveys and a suggestions box located in reception. We saw results from the patient survey were available in the waiting area.

We spoke with two people who used the service who told us they were happy with the care they received. One person told us; “If I wasn’t happy I’d go somewhere else.”

We noted the practice was clean and tidy. However there were chairs available in the clinical areas to accommodate family members or carers accompanying the patient. These were not included in the cleaning schedule for decontamination between patients. We spoke with the practice manager during our inspection who told us the cleaning schedules would be updated to include these.

We saw there was a complaints policy in place and the people we spoke with were happy they could raise a complaint with the practice. However the information available in the practice did not incorporate the NHS Complaints Procedure 2009. We discussed this during our inspection and were informed that documentation would be updated to include this.