Archived: 310 Dental Care

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 29 March 2016 to ask 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

310 Dental Care provides most of its services privately to it patients. It also has a small NHS contract. The practice has surgeries on the ground floor of its premises and this makes the practice accessible to those with limited mobility. A hygienist is available for patients to book. The practice provides restorative services, advice, and endodontics among other services.

Three dentists, a hygienist, three nurses, reception staff and a practice manager work at the practice. The opening hours were Monday to Thursday 8am – 5.30pm Friday 9am – 4.30pm, with out of hours appointments available on request.

The provider and is a registered individual. 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.

We obtained feedback from patients via comment cards and speaking with a small number of patients. In total we received feedback from 49 patients and all of their feedback was highly positive in regards to the services they received.

We found that this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Our key findings were:

• There was appropriate equipment for staff to undertake their duties, and equipment was well maintained.
• Risks were identified, assessed and managed to keep patients and staff safe.
• Care was provided in line with national guidance and staff had the skills and qualifications required to provide care and treatment.
• Patients reported being treated with respect and dignity.
• We saw evidence that patient confidentiality was protected by staff.
• Records show that assessments of patients' oral health and any treatment required was appropriate.
• The appointment system was flexible and enabled patients to make an appointment when they needed one.
• Governance arrangements were in place for the smooth running of the practice. There was a structured plan in place to audit quality and safety.
• We noted some items were stored which had passed their date of expiry. The practice implemented an audit to mitigate these risks and dispose of expired materials on the day of inspection.

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

• Ensure that stock control systems put in place on the day of inspection are embedded, to ensure that out of date stock is not used when providing care to patients.