We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 18 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

Newent Dental Care is situated in a converted residential building in Newent, Gloucestershire. It provides private dental care with a small NHS contract to provide dental care to children only. The practice clinical team comprises of the principal dentist, three dentists, two dental hygienists and three qualified dental nurses and three trainee dental nurses. The clinical team are supported by a practice manager.

The principal dentist is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as 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 has three dental treatment rooms and a decontamination room for the cleaning, sterilising and packing of dental instruments. The reception area and main waiting room are on the ground floor. There are two surgeries on the ground floor.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to use to tell us about their experience of the practice. We collected 52 completed cards and spoke to four patients on the day of our inspection. Without exception patients were positive about the quality of the service provided by the practice. They gave examples of the positive experiences they had at the practice and told us the practice team were professional, caring and always involved them with their treatment options.

Our key findings were:

• Strong and effective leadership was provided by the principal dentist and 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 was visibly clean and an employed cleaner was responsible for the day to day cleaning.
• The practice had well organised systems to assess and manage infection prevention and control.
• The practice had a safeguarding lead with effective processes in place for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning.
• Dentists provided dental care in accordance with current professional and National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
• The practice had systems including audits to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the services provided. Patients could access treatment and urgent and emergency care when required.
• The practice had recruitment policies and procedures and used these to help them check the staff they employed were suitable for their roles.
• Dental care records provided comprehensive information about patients care and treatment.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD) by the principal dentist and practice manager.
• 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.

Information from 52 completed Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards gave us a positive picture of a friendly, caring, professional and high quality service.

When we visited the practice we spoke to four patients, a dentist, the practice head nurse and two other dental nurses. We looked at treatment plans and found that there was a detailed record of completed dental assessments and treatment options discussed with the patient. Patients were pleased with the care and treatment they had received and found the staff friendly and polite. Patients told us, "excellent dentist I feel very reassured", "a brilliant dentist always explains the risks and benefits of treatment", "very pleased with the work and prices" and " very good dentist always explains everything".

The practice was clean throughout and instruments were cleaned and sterilised effectively. There was guidance for staff regarding safeguarding vulnerable adults and child protection procedures. We found that quality monitoring systems were in place that included seeking the views of patients that used the service.