We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 13 October 2015 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

Mydentist Brassey Avenue is a mixed dental practice providing mainly NHS and some private treatment and caters for both adults and children. The practice is situated in a converted residential property. The practice had three dental treatment rooms and a separate decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments and a reception and waiting area. Two of the dental treatment rooms were all on the ground floor enabling disabled access.

The practice has 3 dentists and 4 dental nurses. All of the dental nurses were qualified and registered with the General Dental Council. Supporting the clinical staff were a full time practice manager and 3 reception staff. The practice’s opening hours are 9:00am – 5:30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with late night opening until 7pm on Thursdays. The practice is open on Saturdays from 9:00am until 1pm every other week.

The Practice Manager is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We collected 11 completed cards and spoke to 3 patients. These provided a positive view of the services the practice provides. All of the patients commented that the quality of care was very good.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 13 October 2015 as part of our planned inspection of all dental practices. The inspection took place over one day and was carried out by a lead inspector who was also a dental specialist adviser.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had an empowered practice manager who provided robust leadership within the practice.
• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines.
• The practice was visibly clean and well maintained.
• Infection control procedures were robust and the practice followed published guidance.
• The practice had a dedicated safeguarding lead with effective safeguarding processes in place for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning.
• The practice had enough staff to deliver the service.
• Staff personnel files were well organised and complete.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD).
• Staff we spoke to felt well supported by the practice manager and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.
• Information from 11 completed CQC comment cards gave us a completely positive picture of a friendly, professional service.
• All complaints were dealt with in an open and transparent way by the practice manager if a mistake had been made.
• The practice had a rolling programme of clinical and non-clinical audit in place.
• A children’s club had been established to promote good oral health in children.