We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 19 July 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

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

Oasis Dental Care Central Corby 2 is part of the Oasis Dental Care network. The service provides a wide range of dental services including social orthodontics (tooth straightening) and private hygiene treatments. Services are available to NHS and private patients of all ages. The practice is situated close to a GP practice and NHS walk in centre. The practice has three dental treatment rooms and a separate decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments. The building is at ground floor level and is therefore very accessible.

The practice opens 8am to 8pm seven days a week including bank holidays. The practice employs four dentists and a dental hygiene therapist. They were supported by a team of five dental nurses and one trainee dental nurse, a practice manager and four reception staff.

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.

We received feedback from nine patients either in person or on CQC comments cards from patients who had visited the practice in the two weeks before our inspection. The cards were all positive and commented about the caring and helpful attitude of the staff. Patients told us they were happy with the care and treatment they had received.

Our key findings were:

• There was appropriate equipment for staff to undertake their duties and the equipment was well maintained.
• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines. Emergency medicines were available in line with the British National Formulary (BNF) guidance for medical emergencies in dental practice.
• Infection control procedures were in place and followed by staff.
• Dentists provided dental care in accordance with current professional and National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines
• The practice appeared clean and free from clutter.
• Staff received training and development and an annual appraisal.
• Patients told us they were able to get an appointment when they needed one and the staff were kind and helpful.
• Governance arrangements were effective in monitoring the quality of the service. Action was taken following audits to help make improvements. Patient feedback was sought, considered and appropriate actions were taken.

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

• Review and strengthen the process used to identify significant events and ensure that all actions taken are recorded.
• Review the health and safety risk assessments at regular intervals.
• Review staff training in the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and Gillick competency test.

We spoke with four patients. People told us that they were given explanations before any treatment and that the dentists discussed their options with them. We observed two people receiving treatment and saw that the dentist gave explanations and advice on oral hygiene. We saw that prior to any treatment patients were given a treatment plan which outlined the proposed treatment and any costs.

We spoke with one of the dentists and a dental nurse who explained the assessment process for new patients. We saw that patient’s medical histories were checked at each visit to see whether there had been any changes relevant to their dental treatment.

We looked at 24 satisfaction surveys that had been completed in the previous 12 months and saw that these showed a good level of satisfaction with the service. We spoke with four patients. All told us that they were happy with the service. Two people told us that the practice was good at giving people appointments at short notice when they needed to see a dentist urgently.

We saw that the practice carried out a program of audits which included audits on infection control and on patient records. We saw that various clinical audits were also undertaken including looking whether treatment had been successful by reviewing how many patients had needed to return for further treatment for the same issue.