We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 30 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

The practice provides private treatment to adult patients and NHS treatment to children in the Skipton area and beyond.

The dental practice has three treatment rooms on the ground and first floor. There are two waiting areas, a reception area, decontamination room, and kitchen and staff room /office area. There are accessible toilet facilities on the ground floor of the premises and off street parking adjacent to the practice.

The practice has four dentists, a dental hygienist, dental therapist, four dental nurses and two receptionists.

The practice is open Monday 8:30am to 5pm, Tuesday and Wednesday 8:30am-6pm, Thursday 8:30am to 5pm, Friday 8:30am to 4:00pm and occasional Saturday mornings.

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.

Before the inspection we sent CQC comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We received feedback from 50 patients which all gave positive comments about the care and treatment received at the practice. The patients who provided feedback were very positive about the care and attention to treatment they received at the practice. They told us they could access emergency care easily and staff were sensitive to their needs and were particularly good if they were nervous or anxious about treatment.

Our key findings were:

• Staff had received safeguarding training, knew how to recognise signs of abuse and how to report it. They had very good systems in place to work closely and share information with the local safeguarding team.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Staff were qualified and had received training appropriate to their roles.
• Treatment was provided in line with current best practice guidelines including the Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
• Oral health advice and treatment were provided in-line with the ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’ toolkit (DBOH).
• The practice had systems to assess and manage risks to patients, including infection prevention and control and health and safety.
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about it.
• We observed that patients were treated with kindness and respect by staff. Staff ensured there was sufficient time to explain fully the care and treatment they were providing in a way patients understood.
• Patients were able to make routine and emergency appointments when needed. The practice had a complaints system in place and there was an openness and transparency in how these were dealt with.
• There were clearly defined leadership roles within the practice and staff told us that they felt supported, appreciated and comfortable to raise concerns or make suggestions.

We spoke with seven people during their visit to the surgery. Everyone we spoke with said they were completely satisfied with the care and treatment provided at the surgery and were happy to tell us about their experiences.

People told us they had been included and consulted in decisions taken about their dental care. They all said they understood the care they needed and had been given time to check anything they were unclear about.

One person told us, “I have been coming to this practice since I was a child. My dentist explains, in full, everything I am going to have done.” Another person told us, “This is an excellent practice.” One person, who was nervous about visiting, told us they were put at ease by the reception staff, the dental nurses and the dentist. This, they told us, meant they could come to the surgery feeling more confident.

Everyone told us they had always found the practice to be clean, tidy and hygienic. We too found this to be the case.

People told us the staff were professional, friendly and understanding.

We looked at recruitment processes. However, all of the staff had worked at the surgery for a number of years and had not been recruited using the practice’s new procedures. We did see that checks had been made to make sure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable adults and children.

People told us they had not had any need to complain; but if they needed to they would speak either to the dentist or the practice manager.