We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 3 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

Parkside Dental Health Centre is situated in the West Bowling area of Bradford, West Yorkshire. It offers mainly NHS treatment to patients of all ages but also offers private dental treatments. The services include preventative advice and treatment and routine restorative dental care.

The practice has three surgeries, a decontamination room, one waiting area and a reception area. The reception area, waiting area and one surgery are on the ground floor. The other two surgeries are on the first floor.

There are three dentists, four dental nurses, two receptionists, a practice manager and an area manager.

The opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 9-00am to 5.00pm and Friday from 9-00am to 4-00pm.

The area 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.

During the inspection we spoke with three patients who used the service and reviewed 24 completed CQC comment cards. The patients were positive about the care and treatment they received at the practice. Comments included that the staff were helpful, polite and caring. The service was described as excellent by several patients. They also mentioned that the practice was clean and comfortable.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had some systems in place to assess and manage risks to patients and staff including infection prevention, control and health and safety and the management of medical emergencies.
• Staff were qualified and had generally received training appropriate to their roles.
• Patients were involved in making decisions about their treatment and were given clear explanations about their proposed treatment including costs, benefits and risks.
• The practice was clean and hygienic and the decontamination procedures were effective.
• Oral health advice and treatment were provided in-line with the ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’ toolkit (DBOH).
• We observed that patients were treated with kindness and respect by staff. Staff ensured there was sufficient time to explain fully the care and treatment they were providing in a way patients understood.
• The practice was responsive to the local demographic.
• Patients were able to make routine and emergency appointments when needed.
• The practice had a complaints system in place and there was an openness and transparency in how these were dealt with.

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

• Review the safeguarding training for staff; ensuring it is updated on a regular basis.
• Review the practice’s waste handling procedure to ensure the external clinical waste bin is securely attached to the wall.
• Review the practice’s protocol for the storage of local anaesthetics.
• Review the practice’s protocol for the auditing of clinical records.
• Review the practice’s process for formulating an action plan from the X-ray audit.

We inspected Parkside Dental Health Centre and spoke with one dentist, three nurses and the practice manager. We reviewed patient’s records and the clinical notes and found that patients were informed of recommended treatment, any risks, advantages or disadvantages of the treatment and also alternatives to be considered. We saw evidence of patients being given time to make a decision.

We saw evidence of appropriate treatments being offered and staff talking to patients with respect and dignity. We witnessed nursing staff offering an initial triage service to determine the severity of peoples’ problems and decide how long appointments should be for.

The environment of the practice was a clean and nurses trained in infection control cleaned the surgery. We saw up to date polices and nurses clearly described to us the procedures they followed.

We saw a clearly written complaints policy which was in place and this was signed by all staff at the practice to show they had read and understood the policy. We also saw evidence the complaints procedure was being followed for the most recent complaints and outcomes were checked to see if all parties were happy. The practice manager informed us they looked for trends within the complaints.