We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 16 February 2017 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

Newbury Orthodontics is a dental practice providing NHS and private orthodontic treatment for both adults and children. The practice is based in a converted domestic dwelling in Newbury, a town in Berkshire.

The practice has two dental treatment rooms which are based on the ground floor and a separate decontamination area used for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments. The ground floor is accessible to wheelchair users, prams and patients with limited mobility.

The practice employs three dentists, six nurses who also act as receptionists and a practice manager who is also a dental nurse.

The practice’s opening hours are 8.40am-1pm and 2pm-6pm from Monday to Friday and 9am-1pm every three to four Saturdays.

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, via 111.

Mr. Wing Yeung Mak, the principal dentist, 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 received feedback from 19 patients. These provided a completely positive view of the services the practice provides. Patients commented on the high quality of care, the caring nature of all staff, the cleanliness of the practice and the overall high quality of customer care.

We obtained the views of 16 patients on the day of our inspection.

Our key findings were:

• We found that the practice ethos was to provide patient centred quality orthodontic care.

• Strong and effective clinical leadership was provided by the principal dentist who was supported by an empowered practice manager.

• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines.

• The practice appeared very clean and well maintained.

• Infection control procedures were effective and the practice followed published guidance.

• The practice had a safeguarding lead with effective processes in place for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.

• Staff understood how to report incidents and keep records for shared learning.

• The orthodontists provided care in accordance with current professional guidelines.

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

• Staff recruitment files were organised and complete.

• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD) by the management team.

• Staff we spoke with felt well supported by the principal dentist and practice manager and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.

• Feedback from patients gave us a positive picture of a friendly, caring, professional and high quality service.

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

• Consider the provision of an external name plate providing details of the dentists working at the practice including their General Dental Council (GDC) registration number, taking account of GDC guidance issued in March 2012.
• Review the NHS Choices and practice web sites along with the practice leaflet to ensure that information is kept up to date as far as possible