At the time of our inspection there were no patients in the practice. We spoke with the dental nurse as the dentist was away from the practice on annual leave.

The nurse, who also worked as a receptionist, told us they enjoyed working in the service describing it as “a really nice place to work we have all been here for years”. They told us they had "lots of training". We saw this included training in dealing with medical emergencies, customer care and infection control training. At our last inspection in November 2013 we found there were no staff meetings or staff appraisals. At this inspection, in August 2014, we found there had been improvements in the frequency of staff meetings and staff had a system in place for peer support.

At our last inspection we found there was a system for the management of complaints but there was no other means of monitoring the quality of service provided by the practice. At this inspection we found the practice had developed patient questionnaires to gain their views. The dentist had a system in place to monitor and analyse any complaints, incidents and accidents.

We spoke with nine people who were attending for appointments. One person we spoke with described their experience as “excellent”. Another person who had been recommended the practice told us they had been attending there for treatment for many years and were “happy with the service”.

Several people said they combined visits to the dentist with seeing the hygienist. One person said that staying with the service was their “vote of confidence”. They told us how advice given by the hygienist had led to less frequent appointments as their gum health had improved.

We spoke with the hygienist who said they occasionally referred people to a specialist in periodontology for gum treatments. They told us that people generally followed their advice and saw improvements in their gum health.

People told us they had contacted the practice for an emergency appointment and were seen the following day.

One receptionist/nurse told us they enjoyed working in the service describing it as a “friendly, happy practice”. Another told us about their role in allaying people’s fears and also said the practice was “nice to work in”. Staff told us they had training opportunities including training in child protection and safeguarding vulnerable adults. They said they felt supported but there were no formal staff meetings, supervision or appraisal.

There was a system for the management of complaints. However, there was no other means of monitoring the quality of service provided.