We carried out this announced inspection on 18 September 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 and a deputy chief inspector.

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

Dentists@Redhouse is the oldest dental practice in Redditch and provides NHS and private treatment to patients of all ages. This is a vocational training practice for dentists and is currently supporting two newly qualified foundation dentists.

There is a low level assistance bell and ramped access into the practice for people who use wheelchairs and pushchairs. The ground floor of the practice consists of a reception area with a waiting room, an accessible patient toilet, two dental treatment rooms and a decontamination room for the cleaning, sterilising and packing of dental instruments. On the first floor there are a further four dental treatment rooms, an X-ray room and one further decontamination room. The second floor is accessed by staff only and consists of a staff room / kitchen, two staff toilets, two offices and one meeting / training room. Car parking spaces, including spaces for blue badge holders, are available in the pay and display car park directly behind the practice.

The dental team includes two principal dentists, four associate dentists, two foundation dentists, eight dental nurses, four dental hygienists, two receptionists and two practice managers. The practice has six treatment rooms.

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 15 CQC comment cards filled in by patients and looked at results from recent friends and family test and practice patient satisfaction surveys. This information gave us a positive view of the practice.

During the inspection we spoke with the principal dentists, one associate dentist, one foundation dentist, two dental nurses, one receptionist and the two practice managers. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Monday: 9am to 5.30pm

Tuesday: 9am to 7pm

Wednesday: 9am to 5.30pm

Thursday: 9am to 5.30pm

Friday: 9am to 5.30pm

Our key findings were:

• We noted that the practice ethos was to provide consistently high quality centred dental care for all patients.
• Strong and effective leadership was provided by the principal dentists and empowered practice managers.
• 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. Patients could access treatment and urgent and emergency care when required.
• The practice asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The practice dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
• Training and development was at the forefront in this practice due to three of the dentists being verified trainers to support newly qualified foundation dentists, and one of the practice managers being an accredited trainer and assessor.
• Staff we spoke with felt well supported by the principal dentists and practice managers and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:

• Review the practice’s sharps procedures and ensure the practice is in compliance with the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013.

Our inspection was discussed and arranged with the practice two days in advance. This was to ensure that we had time to see and speak with staff working at the practice, as well as people who used the service.

As part of our inspection visit, we spoke with five people were registered with the practice by telephone after our visit. We also spoke with the senior dentist, the two practice managers, three dental nurses and a member of staff dedicated to responding to telephone calls. We reviewed four dental records, looked at four staff files, written policies and procedures and quality audits.

People that used the practice told us that they were happy with the quality of treatment received. They felt they were given enough information about their treatment options and the relevant fees, and were able to ask all the questions they wanted to.

People told us that the practice was clean and tidy and that they had no concerns about hygiene.

The dentists and staff were qualified and maintained their continuous professional development (CPD) as required by the General Dental Council (GDC). Staff were supported by their managers through staff appraisals. This helped them make sure their training and development needs were identified and addressed in a planned way.

The practice managers supported the dental practice in developing systems for auditing the standards of the service that enabled all staff to make ongoing improvements to the dental care and treatment people received.