We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 22 April 2015.

The practice has one dentist who is also 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.

The dentist is supported by a dental nurse, one trainee dental nurse (also a receptionist) and a dental hygienist that attends the practice monthly.

The practice provides primary dental services to private patients only. This includes patients subscribing to a dental plan in addition to those patients who pay per visit/treatment. The practice is open on Mondays between 8.30am and 5.30pm and on all other weekdays from 8.30am to 3.30pm. to The practice is also open on Saturdays by appointment only.

We spoke with three patients during the inspection. They told us that they were very satisfied with the services provided, that the dentists provided them with clear explanations about their care and treatment, that costs were clear and that all staff treated them with dignity and respect.

We viewed CQC comment cards that had been left for patients to complete, prior to our visit, about the services provided. There were 16 completed comment cards and all of them reflected positive comments about the staff and the services provided. Patients commented that the practice was clean and hygienic, they found it easy to book an appointment and they found the quality of the dentistry to be excellent. They said explanations were clear and that the staff were kind, caring and reassuring. Patients also commented about the availability of a dentist when urgent treatment was required.

The provider was providing care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led and the regulations were being met.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had a system in place to record and analyse significant events, safety issues and complaints and to cascade learning to staff
• Where complaints or mistakes had been made patients were notified about the outcome of any investigation and given a suitable apology
• Staff had received safeguarding and whistleblowing training and knew the processes to follow to raise any concerns
• 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
• Infection control procedures were robust and the practice followed published guidance.
• Patient’s care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines, best practice and current legislation
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in 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.
• The practice was well-led and staff felt involved and worked as a team
• Governance systems were effective and there was a range of clinical and non-clinical audits to monitor the quality of services
• The practice sought feedback from staff and patients about the services they provided.

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

• Ensure that learning from practice meetings is recorded and cascaded to staff and areas for improvement are actioned in a timely manner.

• Ensure infection control audits are undertaken every six months in accordance with the guidance.

• Update radiation protection documentation to identify those currently responsible for oversight of equipment and operation of it.