We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 14 March 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

St Leonard’s House Dental Centre is a mixed dental practice providing mainly NHS and some private treatment for both adults and children. The practice is situated in a converted domestic property. The practice has four dental treatment rooms and a separate decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments. Dental care is provided on the ground floor with a reception and waiting area.

The practice is open 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, Thursday 8:30am to 7:00pm. The practice has four dentists who are supported by six dental nurses and two receptionists. The practice also has a dental hygienist who works one day per week.

The practice manager is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 (CQC) comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We received feedback from 32 patients. These provided a completely positive view of the services the practice provides. All of the patients commented that the quality of care was very good.

Our key findings were:

• The practice ethos was to provide patient centred care.
• The practice benefitted from a stable staff base with the practice manager providing strong, supportive and effective leadership.
• 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 manager was the 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.
• The practice had enough staff to deliver the service.
• Staff recruitment 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 32 completed Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards gave us a completely positive picture of a friendly, professional service.
• The practice had a rolling programme of clinical and non-clinical audit in place.

We spoke with seven people who used the service and eight staff from different disciplines. People who used the service told us they were satisfied with the service and would recommend the practice to family and friends. They considered staff were competent in their work and were very complimentary about the staff who worked at the practice. One person said, “My dentist is excellent and has corrected poor work I’d had done in the past”. Another person said, “The practice is absolutely fantastic”.

People told us they were always made welcome when they attended for their appointments. They said they were “definitely” and “very much” involved in planning their treatment. We saw people had been provided with a copy of their treatment plan and estimation of costs. Staff were aware of what action to take in the event of a medical emergency.

People told us they found the practice clean and hygienic. They confirmed clinical staff wore personal protective equipment such as gloves, mask and eye protection. The practice had arrangements in place for the safe management of infection control to reduce the risk of cross infection.

People we spoke with were not aware of the formal complaints process. However, they told us they would feel confident raising any concerns direct with the practice. Staff demonstrated an understanding of what action they would take in the event of receiving a concern or a complaint.