All the patients we spoke with told us that they were treated with respect and that their privacy and dignity was maintained. Patients told us that their treatment was always discussed privately in the surgeries. One patient commented: “the dental nurses and staff are nice and polite”. Another patient told us how helpful staff had been when they had rung the surgery for the first time. They commented: “I was looking for a dentist and rang the surgery, they were so helpful on the phone that I stopped looking and decided to come here”.

Patients were also very satisfied with the care, support and treatment they had received. Their comments included: “this is the best dentist I have been to, she gives you plenty of warning before she is going to do something”, “he (the dentist) repaired my daughter’s teeth, she was really scared, he explained everything to her during the treatment, he did a brilliant job on her teeth” and “she (the dentist) gave me a good examination and she sat me up well so I was comfortable”.

Patients were cared for in a clean, hygienic environment.

All staff spoken with were clear about their responsibilities and had the relevant qualifications, knowledge, skills and experience to carry out their role.

The practice had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive.