We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 19 November 2015 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

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Garrick Way Dental Surgery on 19 November 2015. Garrick Way Dental Surgery is a single handed practice and provides both NHS and private dental treatment to patients of all ages. The dentist employs a dental nurse and a trainee dental nurse.

The practice is located on a large housing estate; the surgery is on the first floor within a parade of shops, and access is by a staircase. Free parking is available at the front. It has a reception area, waiting room, one treatment room, and a decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising, and packing dental instruments. There was a segregated area protected from the public for general waste and a locked stock cupboard for consumables at the bottom of the stairs.

The practice is open Monday and Tuesday from 9.00am to 5.00pm, Wednesday and Friday 9.00am to 2.00pm and Thursday 12.00pm to 6.00pm

The principal dentist is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. 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.

We received feedback from 20 patients. All of the comments reflected positive comments about the staff and the services provided. Patients commented that the practice was clean and tidy; they found the staff very friendly and efficient, and felt the quality of the dentistry to be excellent.

The practice was providing care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Our key findings were:

• Staff had received safeguarding training and knew the processes to follow to raise any concerns.
• Staff had been trained to deal with medical emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were readily available and accessible.
• Infection control procedures were in place and staff had access to personal protective equipment.
• Patients’ care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines and current legislation.
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits, and risks and were involved in making decisions about them.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and confidentiality was maintained.
• The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.
• The practice was well-led; staff felt involved and worked as a team.
• Some governance systems needed to be strengthened. Medicines used during patients’ treatment had not been recorded. There was a lack of record keeping from medical safety alerts received and meetings held. Staff appraisals had not been undertaken.

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

• Document at appropriate intervals the discussions with staff about their training, learning, and development needs and establish an effective process for the ongoing assessment and supervision of staff members. Ensure that medical safety alerts are documented with required actions and are accessible to all staff.
• Document discussions and outcomes from staff meetings.

Review availability of equipment to manage medical emergencies giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Resuscitation Council (UK), and the General Dental Council (GDC) standards for the dental team.

Before people received any care or treatment they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes. The provider had a policy in place on consent and confidentiality. We spoke with three people on the day of our inspection. They all told us that their treatment was discussed with them.

During our inspection the people we spoke with told us, "(The dentist) has been excellent.” Another person we spoke with said about the practice and the dentist, "Very efficient. Very good."

We looked at the treatment records for people who used the service and saw that people had regular visits, consented to their treatment and that a medical history was taken at each visit. This meant that people were being treated safely and the surgery ensured that their dental health was maintained.

The practice had good policies and procedures in place for controlling the risk of infection.