As part of our review we spoke with six people who used Shrewsbury Dental Practice to gain their experiences of the service they received. People we spoke with included a family, people who were nervous, had a disability, received extensive treatment, were new to the practice, or had attended the practice since it first opened in 2005.

Everybody we spoke with told us they were satisfied with the service they received. They said they were made welcome by the staff, were usually seen on time and were involved in their treatment. Two people who had a disability told us the staff were sensitive to their needs. People told us they were always seen by the same dentist to ensure their continuity of treatment. People who were nervous told us they were reassured and given time to discuss their treatment and overcome their fear of dentists. One person said, “My dentist knows I’m nervous. She reassures me and during my treatment she regularly stops and asks if I’m ok.” People told us they did not receive any unnecessary treatment and always received a copy of their treatment plan and charges.

People told us they had completed an oral health questionnaire when they first registered with the practice and were asked at each appointment if there had been any changes to their health or any prescribed medication. We saw this information had been recorded on their records.

People who required emergency treatment told us they were seen quickly. People told us that they never felt under pressure to make a decision about their treatment and options were always discussed with them. They told us that staff listened to them and were approachable.

People said the practice was always clean and they were satisfied with the standard of cleanliness and hygiene. They confirmed that clinical staff always wore personal protective clothing such as a short sleeved uniform, gloves and eye protection. We did find a large amount of out of date instruments in one of the surgeries and action was immediately taken to ensure there was no risk of cross infection to people who used the service. However, this requires closer scrutiny as some staff were not complying with the infection control policy in place.

We received information from Shropshire PCT who visited the practice on 27 July 2010 to undertake an infection prevention and control audit. They told us the practice received an overall score of 95%. They said the practice had a comprehensive infection control policy in place and many improvements had been made since the last audit.