We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 15 December 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

Teeth Innovation Ltd is situated in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The practice offers mainly private dental treatment to patients of all ages. The services include preventative advice and treatment and routine restorative dental care.

The practice has four surgeries, a decontamination room and a sterilisation room, a waiting area and a reception area. All of the facilities are on the second floor of a converted mill. A lift is planned to be installed in 2017 in order to enable access for wheelchair users and those with limited mobility.

There is one dentist, one dental nurse and a practice manager. The practice has been seeing patients for approximately two months.

The practice is currently only open on a Friday but is looking at opening more days once the practice becomes more established.

One of the directors 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 received feedback from three patients. The patients were positive about the care and treatment they received at the practice. The patients commented the staff were kind and nice. They also commented it was easy to get an appointment.

Our key findings were:

• The practice was visibly clean and tidy.
• The practice had systems in place to assess and manage risks to patients and staff including health and safety and legionella.
• Staff were qualified and had 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.
• Dental care records showed treatment was planned in line with current best practice guidelines.
• 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.
• 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.
• Some items of the medical emergency kit were missing.
• Audit processes had not yet been implemented as the practice had only recently opened.

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

• Review the practice’s arrangements for receiving and responding to patient safety alerts, recalls and rapid response reports issued from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and through the Central Alerting System (CAS), as well as from other relevant bodies such as, Public Health England (PHE).
• Review availability of medicines and equipment to manage medical emergencies giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Resuscitation Council (UK), and the General Dental Council (GDC) standards for the dental team.
• Review the practice's recruitment policy and procedures to ensure practice specific Disclosure and Barring Service checks are requested and recorded suitably.
• Review the practice’s audit protocols of various aspects of the service, such as radiography and dental care records at regular intervals to help improve the quality of service. Practice should also check all audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.
• Review the practice’s process for the grading of x-rays taking into account guidance from the National Radiological Protection Board.