People were very positive about the service that they received from Lake Road Dental Practice. People told us that they received a very friendly service, that they were kept informed and offered information and choice about their treatment.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 13 September 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

Lake Road Dental Practice is a dental practice providing NHS and private treatment for both adults and children. The practice is based in a purpose built premises in Portsmouth, south Hampshire.

The practice has three dental treatment rooms. All of which are based on the ground floor. Decontamination is carried out in segregated areas of two treatment rooms where cleaning, sterilising and packing of dental instruments was carried out The ground floor is accessible to wheelchair users, prams and patients with limited mobility.

The practice employs two dentists, one hygienist, one therapist, one hygienist/therapist, four dental nurses, a practice coordinator and practice manager.

The practice’s opening hours are between 8.30am and 1pm and 2pm and 5.30pm from Monday to Thursday and 8.30am and 1pm and 1.30pm and 3.30pm on Friday.

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 owner who is also the principle dentist 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 19 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 practice owners and empowered practice coordinators who assumed practice management duties.
• 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 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 effective processes in place for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• There was a process in place for the reporting and shared learning when untoward incidents occurred in the practice.
• Dentists provided dental care in accordance with current professional and National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
• The practice had embraced the concept of skill mix to assist in the delivery of effective dental care to patients by employing two dental hygiene therapists and a dental hygienist.
• 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 practice owners.
• Staff we spoke with felt well supported by the practice owners and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.
• Information from 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:

• Review the availability of a hearing loop for patients who are hard of hearing.
• Review the practice's recruitment policy and procedures to ensure necessary employment checks are in place for all staff prior to starting employment, specifically obtaining written references.