We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 22 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

Soho Road Dental Practice has two dentists who work full time, three qualified dental nurses who are registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) a practice manager, assistant practice manager and a receptionist. The registered manager and practice management team work between two dental practices and spend some time at each location. The practice’s opening hours are 9am to 5.30pm on Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on a Saturday (by prior appointment only).

Soho Road Dental Practice provides NHS and private dental treatment for adults and children. The practice has two dental treatment rooms on the ground floor and a separate decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments. There is also a reception and waiting area.

The registered manager was present during this inspection. 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 comments cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice and during the inspection we spoke with patients. We received feedback from 32 patients who provided an overwhelmingly positive view of the services the practice provides. All of the patients commented that the quality of care was very good.

Our key findings were

• Systems were in place for the recording and learning from significant events and accidents.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect.
• The practice was visibly clean and well maintained.
• Infection control procedures were in place with infection prevention and control audits being undertaken on a three monthly basis. Staff had access to personal protective equipment such as gloves and aprons.
• There was appropriate equipment for staff to undertake their duties, and equipment was well maintained.
• The provider had emergency medicines in line with the British National Formulary (BNF) guidance for medical emergencies in dental practice.
• Staff had been trained to deal with medical emergencies.
• The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.
• The practice was well-led and staff felt involved and worked as a team.
• Governance arrangements were in place for the smooth running of the practice and there was a structured plan in place to audit quality and safety beyond the mandatory audits for infection control and radiography.

During our inspection we spoke with the provider, the receptionist, a dental nurse, the operations director, the practice manager a dentist and one person who had received treatment. We looked at the records for ten people who had used the service.

Following our visit we spoke with five people over the telephone so that we could get their views of the service provided. All the people we spoke with were very positive about their experiences. They felt they were given enough information about their treatment options and were always asked about their medical history. One person told us “I explained my medical history to the dentist”. Another person we spoke to said “It’s been good overall, no cause for concern”.

We found that people received the care and treatment they needed and records detailed the treatment people had received. Appropriate risk assessments and maintenance of equipments were in place to protect people from unsafe care and treatment.

There were infection prevention procedures in place to minimise the risk of infection. Decontamination procedures were followed to ensure instruments were being hygienically cleaned.

There were procedures in place to monitor quality of service and identify improvements where necessary.