We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Barrow Street Dental Practice on 30 April 2015.

Barrow Street Dental Practice is situated in St Helens town centre. It offers NHS and private dental care services to patients of all ages. The services provided include preventative advice and treatment and routine and restorative dental care. Treatment and waiting rooms are on the ground and first floor of the premises.

The practice is a training practice for the Dental Foundation Training (DFT) scheme. DFT provides postgraduate dental education for newly qualified dentists in their first (foundation) year of practice; usually within general dental practices. The principal dentist is a trainer for the DFT scheme and provides clinical and educational supervision. The practice currently has two full time dentists who are in their first (foundation) year of practice.

The practice has five dentists, five dental nurses, two dental nurse trainees, two part-time hygienists and a practice manager/receptionist. The practice is open Monday to Friday from 9-00am to 5-00pm.

We spoke with two patients who used the service on the day of our inspection and reviewed 50 completed CQC comment cards. Patients we spoke with and those who completed comment cards were positive about the care they received from the practice. They commented they had no difficulties in arranging a convenient appointment and staff were caring, helpful and respectful.

We found that this practice was providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had systems to assess and manage risks to patients, including for infection prevention and control, health and safety and the management of medical emergencies.

• The practice carried out oral health assessments and planned treatment in line with current best practice guidance, for example from the Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP). 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 ensured there was sufficient time to explain fully the care and treatment they were providing in a way patients understood. Patients commented they felt involved in their treatment and that it was fully explained to them.

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

• There were clearly defined leadership roles within the practice and 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:

• Review how documentation relating to staff recruitment and employment is retained; in order to ensure staff records are complete and easily accessible.

• Establish a process for monitoring and reviewing practice policies and procedures.

We spoke with people who received treatment at the dental surgery. They were positive about the service they had received. Some of the comments were:

"I trust the dentist here, I've had bad experiences in the past but the dentist is so good I feel safe now and have recommended it to everyone I know",

"I've never had a problem they are really good always discuss with me what my option are",

"staff are very helpful nothing is too much trouble, they really take the time to explain everything, in fact their patience is outstanding",

"all the staff are so kind I have recommended this surgery to everyone I know, the dentist is fantastic I would never consider going anywhere else".

During our visit a new patient arrived to get an urgent appointment; the surgery was able to make room for them within 24 hours. Another person rang for an appointment the receptionist in the surgery was able to discuss with them alternatives and made an appointment that meet their needs.

We saw there was a variety of information available in the reception areas. This included general information about average prices of treatment for private care and leaflets for people about maintaining their dental health. We also saw that the service was part of a quality assurance scheme and displayed their complaints process to make sure that people could easily raise any concerns they may have.