We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Wednesbury Dental Practice on 23 January 2015.

Wednesbury Dental Practice provides general dentistry under an NHS contract for both adults and children. Private options are available for patients.

The practice is located in one of the main shopping streets in the centre of the town of Wednesbury. The surgery occupies the first floor of the premises and has two treatment rooms.

Wednesbury Dental Practice has two part time dentists and a full time principal dentist. There is also one reception staff and four dental nurses. One of the dental nurses is currently covering the role of practice manager in addition to their clinical duties.

We spoke with three patients who used the service on the day of our inspection and reviewed 42 completed CQC comment cards. Patients we spoke with and those who completed comments cards were positive about the care they received from the practice. They commented that staff were caring, helpful and respectful.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had systems to monitor patient safety through reporting and learning from incidents and significant events. The practices was aware from patients feedback that the premises needed modernising.

• The practice carried out assessments and planned treatment in line with current best practice guidance. Staff received training appropriate to their roles and told us they felt well supported to carry out their work.

• Patients told us they were treated with kindness and respect by staff. Staff were knowledgeable about patient confidentiality and we observed good interaction between staff and patients during the inspection.

• Patients were able to make routine and emergency appointments when needed. There were clear instructions for patients regarding out of hours care.

• Staff had some lead roles in areas such as induction of new staff and complaints handling and staff were aware who carried out the lead roles. Staff told us they felt well supported and comfortable to raise concerns or make suggestions.

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

• Ensure recommended actions from the Legionella risk assessment are being carried out and logged appropriately.

• Ensure clinical staff are aware of guidance and advice within the ‘delivering better oral health toolkit’.

As part of our inspection we spoke with four people who were registered with the practice. We also spoke with the dentist (who was also the provider), the practice manager and the dental nurse. We reviewed four dental records, written policies and procedures and quality audits.

People who used the practice told us that they were happy with the quality of treatment they received. They felt they were given enough information about their treatment options and were able to ask all the questions they wanted to.

People told us that the practice was clean and tidy and that they had no concerns about hygiene.

The practice manager ensured that audits took place to ensure that any areas for improvement were identified.