We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 20 September 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

Peel Park Dental Practice is situated in Bradford, West Yorkshire. It offers mainly NHS dental treatments to patients of all ages but also offer private treatment options. The services include preventative advice and treatment and routine restorative dental care. It is a training practice for newly qualified dentists (foundation dentists). Training practices have been approved by the regional postgraduate deanery to provide education supervision to foundation dentists.

The practice has four surgeries, a decontamination suite, two waiting areas, an X-ray room and a reception area. The reception area, one waiting area, two surgeries and accessible toilet facilities are located on the ground floor. The other waiting area, two surgeries and the X-ray room are on the first floor. The decontamination suite is located in the basement. There is step free access to the premises.

There are five dentists (including one foundation dentist), three qualified dental nurses (who also cover reception duties), two trainee dental nurses, one receptionist and a practice manager.

The opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 9-00am to 6-00pm and Friday from 9-00am to 4-00pm.

The practice manager and practice owner are the registered managers. 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 received feedback from 12 patients. The patients were positive about the care and treatment they received at the practice. Comments included that staff were helpful, polite and caring. They also commented that the premises were hygienic and the dentists’ communication skills were excellent.

Our key findings were:

• The practice was visibly clean and uncluttered.
• The practice had systems in place to assess and manage risks to patients and staff including health and safety and the management of medical emergencies.
• Staff were qualified and had received training appropriate to their roles.
• Dental care records showed that treatment was planned in line with current best practice guidelines.
• 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 had a complaints system in place and there was an openness and transparency in how these were dealt with.
• Patients were able to make routine and emergency appointments when needed.
• The governance systems were effective.
• There were clearly defined leadership roles within the practice and staff told us they felt supported, appreciated and comfortable to raise concerns or make suggestions.

We identified the practice did the following which had a positive impact on patient experience and health outcomes. We believe this to be notable practice.

• The practice was located in an area with a high proportion of persons from the Indian subcontinent. They had identified that this population would frequently chew betel nut and smoke shisha pipes. They had put together a display in the waiting room about the risks of smoking shisha pipes and a card which was used to show patients the risks of betel nut chewing.

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

• Review the current legionella risk assessment and implement the required actions including the monitoring and recording of water temperatures, giving due regard to the guidelines issued by the Department of Health - Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices and The Health and Social Care Act 2008: ‘Code of Practice about the prevention and control of infections and related guidance.

During the inspection we spoke with four people who used the service. They told us they were happy with the services they received. They said they were always given information about their treatment options and one person described their dentist as “very informative” and “reassuring”. People described the staff as“polite” and “helpful” and one person said the “whole package” was good. People told us the surgery was always clean and said the provider had made improvements to the environment. They said they were aware of how to make a complaint if they needed to but said they had no reason to complain.

We found the provider had appropriate systems in place to ensure consent was gained before they carried out an examination or treatment.

We found the provider had taken steps which ensured the care and welfare of people who used the service. There were arrangements in place to deal with medical emergencies.

We found the environment was clean and tidy and had suitable infection prevention and control protocols in place.

We found the provider had appropriate arrangements in place to ensure staff received suitable training.

We saw evidence there was an appropriate system in place for listening to and acting on people's comments and concerns. The manager told us the practice had achieved the British Dental Association Good Practice Scheme standards which demonstrated a commitment to providing quality services to nationally agreed standards.