Mydentist Chichester Road is a dental practice providing mainly NHS and some private treatment for both adults and children.

The practice is situated in two converted domestic dwellings situated north of Portsmouth city centre, Hampshire. The practice has five dental treatment rooms and a separate decontamination room used for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments.

The practice employs five dentists, a hygienist, four dental nurses of which three are in training and on a recognised training course, two receptionists and a practice manager. The practice’s opening hours are 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8am to 3pm 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 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 23 completed cards and obtained the views of 15 patients on the day of our visit.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 8 February 2016 as part of our planned inspection of all dental practices. Our inspection was carried out by a lead inspector and a dental specialist adviser.

Our key findings were:

• The practice benefitted from a stable staff base and an empowered practice manager.

• Staff felt supported by the practice manager and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.

• 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.

• The service was aware of the needs of the local population and took those these into account in how the practice was run.

• Patients could access treatment and urgent and emergency care when required.

• Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning.

• Staff recruitment files were organised and complete.

• Staff received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continuous professional development.

• Information from 23 completed Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards and the views of a further 15 patients on the day of our visit, gave us a positive picture of a friendly, professional service.

• The practice had a rolling programme of clinical and non-clinical audit in place.

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

• Complete autoclave validation logbooks with respect to recommended weekly and quarterly tests.

• Repair the floor covering in the decontamination room.

• Provide the hygienist with the chair side support of a dental nurse

We spoke with a dental nurse and to the registered manager. We also met three of the dentists and observed one person receiving treatment from a dentist and a dental nurse.

We spoke to five people who used the service, each of whom said they were satisfied with the service they received.

People told us that they were given a range of options and that they were able to make informed decisions on what treatment they received. We saw information leaflets in the waiting areas about the services provided.

People said they were give a range of options by the dentist and had a treatment plan, which they signed.

People knew how to make a complaint but told us they had not had cause to use it.

We observed one person receiving treatment. The dentist and dental nurse explained to the person what they were doing and the different options for treatment.

We saw the service had infection control procedures for the cleaning and sterilisation of equipment.