We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 8 October 2015 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

Oakland dental clinic is situated on the first floor of premises in South Woodham Ferrers. The practice has limited access for patients with restricted mobility, such as those in a wheelchair. The practice provides regulated dental services to patients in South Woodham Ferrers and the surrounding area. The practice provides wholly private dental treatment. Services provided include general dentistry and dental hygiene.

The practice is open on Mondays from 9am - 5pm, Tuesdays from 2pm - 8pm and on Thursdays from 8am - 2pm. The practice is closed on Wednesdays and Fridays The practice is open on Saturdays by appointment only

Patients who require appointments for urgent treatment outside of opening hours can ring the practice telephone number and follow the answerphone message.

The practice has one dentist, one dental nurse and a dental technician. The principal dentist is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual. 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.

We received positive feedback from five patients about the services provided. Patients said they were happy with all aspects of the practice. The dentist was approachable and there were no concerns over the treatment provided. Patients also said the dental nurse was friendly and approachable.

Our key findings were:

• Staff had received safeguarding and whistleblowing training and knew the processes to follow to raise any concerns.
• Patients’ care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines, good practice and current legislation.
• The practice ensured staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies, and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were readily available.
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about it.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and confidentiality was maintained.
• The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.
• There was an effective complaints system and the practice was open and transparent with patients if a mistake had been made.
• Some governance arrangements were in place; however the practice did not have a structured plan in place to audit quality and safety in some areas round the planning and delivery of care and treatment. They planned to establish a more detailed system for this.

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

• Review the procedures in place for assessing the risk of legionella.
• Carry out regular infection control audits to test the effectiveness of these procedures.
• Review the arrangements in respect of fire safety including fire safety risk assessments and evacuation plans.
• Review the practice’s protocols and procedures for promoting the maintenance of good oral health giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Department of Health publication ‘Delivering better oral health: an evidence-based toolkit for prevention’
• Review the practice's protocols for completion of dental records so that they contain relevant information in respect of patients care and treatment including details of assessments carried out such as soft tissue examinations, details of patients smoking status and a record of patients consent to care and treatment,
• Review its complaint handling procedures and establish an accessible system for identifying, receiving, recording, handling and responding to complaints by patients.
• Review its responsibilities to the needs of people with a disability and the requirements of the equality Act 2010 and ensure a Disability Discrimination Act audit is undertaken for the premises.
• Review the systems in place for assessing and monitoring the quality and safety of services provided and develop the practice auditing processes to identify and secure improvements where these are needed.
• Establish a system for obtaining and acting on feedback from patients on the services provided, for the purposes of continually evaluating and improving the services.

We spoke to three patients, one dentist, and two members of practice staff. We also looked at records. These included care plans, records of meetings and information about how the service operated. We looked at information from surveys undertaken by the provider to assess the quality of the service.

People we spoke with were involved in their care and treatment options, felt it was delivered in a safe way and that the practice was clean and hygienic.

One person said: “The staff are very friendly and helpful. They have been wonderful." Another person said: "I am entirely happy with the treatment I receive here."

We observed members of staff interacting with patients in a courteous, polite and efficient manner.

We saw that the practice had implemented an infection control policy and that staff were encouraged to develop their skills and undertake appropriate training to help deliver safe and effective care to patients.