We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 9 August 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

Havant Heath Centre is a dental practice providing NHS and private treatment for both adults and children. The practice is based in a purpose built health centre which it shares with three GP practices in Havant, a town situated in south Hampshire.

The practice has three dental treatment rooms and two separate decontamination rooms used for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments. The practice is based on the second floor and is accessible by lift to wheelchair users, prams and patients with limited mobility.

The practice employs a dentist, a therapist/hygienist, three trainee dental nurses and a practice manager who is a registered dental nurse.

The practice’s opening hours are between 8.30am and 5pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 8.30am and 7pm on Tuesday and Thursday.

There are arrangements in place to ensure patients receive urgent medical assistance when the practice is closed. This is provided by an out-of-hours service.

The practice manager is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 obtained the views of eight patients on the day of our inspection.

Our key findings were:

• We found that the practice ethos was to provide patient centred dental care in a relaxed and friendly environment.

• Effective leadership was provided by the Clinical Director and senior managers in the group.

• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines.

• The practice appeared clean and generally well maintained.

• There was appropriate equipment for staff to undertake their duties, and equipment was well maintained.

• Infection control procedures were robust and the practice followed published guidance.

• The practice had a safeguarding lead with effective processes in place for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.

• There was a process in place for the reporting of untoward incidents that occurred in the practice.

• The Dentist provided dental care in accordance with current professional and National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.

• The service was aware of the needs of the local population and took these into account in how the practice was run.

• Patients could access treatment and urgent and emergency care when required.

• Staff received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD) by the company.

• Staff we spoke with felt well supported by the Clinical Director and senior managers and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.

• Information from 23 completed Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards gave us a positive picture of a friendly, caring, professional and high quality service.

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

• Consider installing a hearing loop for patients with hearing difficulties.
• Consider establishing a formal system of shared learning following untoward incidents in the practice.
• Consider providing the hygienist with the support of an appropriately trained member of the dental team on all occasions.
• Replace the damaged section of floor coving in the one treatment room.

We spoke with two people who used the service and both of the people we spoke with were satisfied with the service they received.

We spoke to people in the waiting area. The waiting area was comfortable and people were able to relax before and after treatment.

People told us that they were able to make informed decisions. They said they had enough information to make a decision about their treatment options.

We were told that the dentist fully explained the options about any treatment they were being offered. People said they were able to ask any questions and that staff explained things to them clearly.