Shrewsbury Orthodontic Centre

Updated 6 April 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the practice was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The inspection took place on 25 February 2016 was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser. Prior to the inspection, we asked the practice to send us some information that we reviewed. This included the complaints they had received in the last 12 months, their latest statement of purpose, and the details of their staff members including proof of registration with their professional bodies.

We informed NHS England area team that we were inspecting the practice; however, we did not receive any information of concern from them.

During the inspection, we spoke with the practice owner, a specialist orthodontist, practice manager, dental nurses and receptionist and reviewed policies, procedures and other documents. We also obtained the views of six patients on the day of our visit. We reviewed 49 comment cards that we had left prior to the inspection, for patients to complete, about the services provided at the practice.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it caring?

• Is it responsive to people’s needs?

• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection

Updated 6 April 2016

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 25 February 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

Shrewsbury Orthodontic Centre is a specialist dental practice providing orthodontic treatment to children and some adults mainly on a referral basis (Orthodontics is a specialist branch of dentistry concerned with the alignment of the teeth and jaws to improve the appearance of the face, the teethand their function). Orthodontic treatment is provided under NHS regulations for children except when the problem falls below the accepted eligibility criteria for NHS treatment. Private treatment is available for these patients as well as adults who require orthodontic treatment. The practice is situated in a converted residential property, a Grade 2 listed building. The practice had three dental treatment rooms and a separate decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments. Also included were a reception and waiting area.

The practice is open 8.45am - 5.00pm Monday to Thursday and Friday 8.45 - 1.30pm. The practice has two specialist dentists known as orthodontists and are supported by four dental nurses, an orthodontic therapist, a practice manager and two receptionists.

The practice manager 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.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We received feedback from 49 patients. These provided a completely positive view of the services the practice provides. Patients commented on the high quality of care, the caring nature of all staff, the cleanliness of the practice and the overall high quality of customer care.

Our key findings were:

• We found that the practice ethos was to provide patient centred quality orthodontic care.
• Strong and effective leadership was provided by the practice owner and an empowered practice manager.
• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines.
• The practice appeared very clean and well maintained.
• Infection control procedures were robust and the practice followed published guidance.
• The practice had a safeguarding lead with effective processes in place for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning.
• The orthodontists provided care in accordance with current professional guidelines.
• The practice had fully embraced the concept of skill mix to assist in the delivery of effective orthodontic care to patients.
• The service was aware of the needs of the local population and took these into account in how the practice was run.
• Staff recruitment files were organised and complete.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD) by the practice owner and practice manager.
• Staff we spoke with felt well supported by the practice owner and practice manager and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.
• Information from 49 completed Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards gave us a completely positive picture of a friendly, caring, professional and high quality service.