The purpose of this inspection was to check that improvements had been made following our last inspection of 14 August 2013 when we found concerns with regards to the safeguarding of people who used the service from abuse and requirements relating to workers. At this follow up inspection we found that improvements had been made.

During our inspection we spoke with the practice manager and dental hygienist. We also looked at staff training records. We saw that all staff had recently attended a training course in the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children. We also saw that all staff had been trained in understanding the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) and its relevance to their profession.

We saw that the provider had improved their system for managing the recruitment and selection of staff. We looked at two staff files, one file viewed related to a member of staff recently employed by the service. The provider had updated their recruitment and selection of staff policy. We saw that staff files contained evidence of the interview process which included the questions asked at interview and a scoring system. This showed us how the provider had assessed the suitability of candidates to carry out the role they had been recruited into. We also saw that satisfactory pre-employment checks such as criminal records checks had been obtained.

We found that the Framlingham Dental Practice provided dental care according to the needs of people who used the service. Dental staff spoke with people to check if there were any changes in their medical condition from the previous treatment.

The people we spoke with were satisfied with the service they received. People told us the staff were friendly and helpful. One person said, “The service here is very good. I have been coming here for years and would not want to go anywhere else.”

We saw that people who used wheelchairs were able to access the premises. They told us that the dentist had arranged for their treatment to take place within a treatment room on the ground floor to enable them to access the service. This showed us that people’s diversity, values and human rights were respected.

There was a complaints procedure in place along with satisfaction surveys. Feedback received from people in surveys was positive about their experience.

We found shortfalls in the practice’s recruitment processes. Not all the staff had criminal records checks which would show if there were any issues which might prevent them from working with vulnerable people. This meant that people who used the service could be at risk because not all the necessary checks had been completed