We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 23 March 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

Long Buckby Dental is an NHS and private dental practice in Long Buckby in Northamptonshire. The practice offers general dentistry including fillings, dentures, crowns and bridges to adults and children. It is situated on the ground and first floor of a grade two listed building in the centre of Long Buckby.

The practice employs two dentists, a qualified dental nurse and a receptionist. The practice building has a reception area, waiting room and treatment room on the ground floor, and a second treatment room, office, toilet and decontamination room on the first floor. The stairs to access the first floor are steep and narrow.

The practice was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in April 2011.

The principal dentist is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual. 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 positive feedback from 44 patients about the services provided. This was through CQC comment cards left at the practice prior to the inspection.

Our key findings were:

• Patients of the practice commented that staff were friendly and helpful and that treatment was always explained to them in full.

• Essential standards in decontamination as outlined in the ‘Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 (HTM 01-05): Decontamination in primary care dental practices.’ published by the Department of Health were being met.

• Governance arrangements were in place for the smooth running for the practice, including the use of clinical audit to highlight areas that could be improved.

• Medicines and equipment were in place to treat emergencies in line with current national guidelines; however some of the equipment was out of date. This was replaced immediately following the inspection.

• A full oral screening was carried out on patients who attended the practice, this included assessment of gum health and soft tissues of the mouth and face.

• Equipment was maintained in line with the manufacturers’ instructions.

• Use of X-ray equipment on the premises was in line with current legislation.

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

• Review the practice’s arrangements for receiving and responding to patient safety alerts, recalls and rapid response reports issued from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and through the Central Alerting System (CAS), as well as from other relevant bodies such as Public Health England (PHE).

• Review the process of checking expiry dates on recommended 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.

• Review staff awareness of Gillick competency and ensure all staff are aware of their responsibilities.

• Review the storage of historic dental care records to ensure they are stored securely.

• Review the practice's recruitment policy and procedures to ensure character references for new staff as well as proof of identification are requested and recorded suitably.

• Review the practice’s audit protocols of various aspects of the service, such as radiography and dental care records at regular intervals to help improve the quality of service. Practice should also check all audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.

• Review the availability of an interpreter service for patients who do not speak English as their first language.

We were unable to speak to people who use the service as the practice was closed. Our inspection concentrated on records kept by the practice in which we found significant improvements.

We spoke with three people who use the service and they told us that they were extremely happy with the treatment they received. One person told us they were nervous about attending the dentist and that staff made them feel at ease. We found concerns in relation to record keeping and quality assurance.