We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 22 November 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

Devonshire Quarter Dental Practice is located in Sheffield city centre, South Yorkshire. The practice offers mainly NHS dental treatments to patients of all ages and also offers private options. The services include preventative advice and treatment and routine restorative dental care.

The practice has one surgery, a decontamination suite, two waiting areas and a reception area. The reception area, main waiting area and toilet are on the ground floor. The surgery, decontamination room and a smaller waiting area are on the first floor.

There is one dentist, two dental nurses, two receptionists and a practice manager.

The opening hours are Monday to Wednesday and Friday from 9-00am to 5-00pm and Thursday from 9-00am to 7-00pm.

The principal dentist is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual. 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.

During the inspection we received feedback from 34 patients. The patients were positive about the care and treatment they received at the practice. Comments included staff had a professional manner, were friendly, caring and professional. They also commented they were seen on time, treatment options were discussed and the practice was always clean and hygienic.

Our key findings were:

• The practice was visibly clean and uncluttered.
• The practice had systems in place to assess and manage risks to patients and staff including health and safety and the management of medical emergencies.
• Staff were qualified and had received training appropriate to their roles.
• Patients were involved in making decisions about their treatment and were given clear explanations about their proposed treatment including costs, benefits and risks.
• Dental care records showed treatment was planned in line with current best practice guidelines.
• Oral health advice and treatment were provided in-line with the ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’ toolkit (DBOH).
• We observed patients were treated with kindness and respect by staff.
• There was a warm and friendly feel to the practice.
• Staff ensured there was sufficient time to explain fully the care and treatment they were providing in a way patients understood.
• The practice had an effective complaints system in place.
• Patients were able to make routine and emergency appointments when needed.
• The governance systems were effective.
• There were clearly defined leadership roles within the practice and staff told us they felt supported, appreciated and comfortable to raise concerns or make suggestions.

We identified the following notable practice:

• The practice was involved in the “Filling Children’s Teeth: Indicated Or Not?” (FiCTION) trial. The FiCTION trial compares alternative methods of managing dental decay in the primary dentition. These methods included purely preventative care, preventative care plus biological intervention (partial decay removal) and preventative care plus surgical intervention (full decay removal). This research could have a major impact on the way dentists treat dental decay in children. We think this is notable practice because it demonstrates a commitment to improving the quality of treatment provided to children by involving themselves in current research.

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

• Review the practice’s process to ensure the compressor is serviced at regular intervals.

Information about people’s experience of Devonshire Quarter Dental Practice was gained by speaking with three people attending the practice on the day of our inspection and by speaking with the provider and three members of staff. We also reviewed the records of six people receiving treatment at the practice and reviewed a range of other relevant documents.

Each person spoken with as part of our inspection told us that the provider clearly explained the care and treatment options available to them together with the costs of these.

People were positive about the practice staff, one person stated, “all the staff are pleasant and friendly.” People told us that their privacy and dignity was taken into consideration by all staff at the practice.

Each person spoken with was positive about the care, treatment and support they received from the provider and other staff within the practice. One person said, “this dentist is the best dentist I’ve ever had.”

People told us that the practice was always clean. Our observations and our review of records demonstrated that people received care and treatment in a clean environment with measures in place to minimise the risk of infection.

The provider had a satisfactory recruitment and selection procedure in place to ensure that staff were appropriately employed. We found that there were effective systems to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.