We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 16 February 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

Mydentist- High St- Kings Lynn provides mainly NHS dental treatment to children and adults. The practice is part of the Mydentist group, who operate a large number of dental practices across the UK.

The practice employs six dentists, 10 dental nurses and one dental hygienist. They are supported by a practice manager and four receptionists. The practice opens Monday to Friday from 8am to 5 pm, and on Saturdays from 9am to 3.30pm.

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.

The practice is located in the centre of Kings Lynn and has six treatment rooms, a sizeable patient waiting area, a decontamination room and a large staff room.

We received feedback from 48 patients during the inspection process. They were very positive about the service offered, and commented on the friendliness and professionalism of the staff, and effectiveness of their treatment. However three people mentioned long waits to see the dentists after they had arrived, and two commented on the length of time to get a routine appointment, sometimes up to a couple of months.

Our key findings were:

• Information from 48 completed Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards gave us a positive picture of a friendly, caring, professional and high quality service.

• The practice had systems to help ensure patient safety. These included safeguarding children and adults from abuse, and responding to medical emergencies.

• Infection control procedures were robust and the practice followed published guidance.
• Patients could access urgent care when required
• Patients’ care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines, best practice and current legislation.

• Staff received good training for their roles and were supported in their continued professional development.
• The practice sought feedback from staff and patients and used it to improve the service provided.

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

• Cover loose medical consumables in drawers to ensure their hygiene

• Report and act on water temperatures that fail to reach 50 degrees Celsius

• Review the capacity of the ultra-sonic baths to ensure they are adequate for the amount of instruments that need to be processed

• Increase staff awareness of local smoking cessation services

• Implement patient group directions for the dental hygienist so that she able to administer medicines to patients e.g. topical fluoride
• Provide information about the practice's services in other common languages spoken by patients.

  
  

  
  

People who we spoke with said that they were given the right amount of information about their dental support, care and treatment. They also said that they were treated with respect and they had found the staff to be friendly and approachable.

All of the people who we spoke with said that they were very satisfied with the standard and quality of their dental care and treatment

Arrangements were in place to safely and appropriately manage any dental and medical emergency situations experienced by people visiting the clinic.

People's health was protected due to effective systems and procedures for the management and control of infection.

All of the people who we spoke with had positive comments about the competencies and skills of members of staff. Staff were suitable, trained and skilled to provide people who used the service with safe and appropriate dental care and treatment.

Quality assurance systems were in place which provided people with the opportunity to share their views about the service with the provider. Treatment records were maintained which ensured that people received safe and appropriate dental care and treatment.