As this was a follow up inspection and we had spoken to a number of people using this dental practice previously we did not need to speak to people again.

During our previous inspection of February 2012 we identified minor concerns regarding infection prevention and major concerns regarding recruitment. We carried out this inspection to find out if improvements had been made and found that they had.

We randomly looked at instruments that had been available to carry out treatments and saw that these had all been date labelled when they had been sterilised. This meant that the provider had taken action to prevent people acquiring an infection.

We looked at the personal files for staff who were providing care and treatments and saw that all of the required checks had been carried out. This meant that people had not been placed at risk from unsuitable staff being employed at this dentist practice.

This dental practice location is a small dental practice owned and operated by a large dental provider. This dental practice is situated in the town centre area of Tipton. The practice is made up of a small team which includes dentists, a therapist, nurses and a receptionist.

This practice provides a full range of general dental assessments and treatments.

The practice location only has two treatment rooms. These treatment rooms are situated on the ground floor which means that the practice can offer treatment to people with mobility restrictions or who may use wheelchairs

People receiving care and treatment from this practice location pay independently or can access their dentistry through NHS costs. The practice has a current contract with the NHS to provide NHS dental care to people.

As part of our review we spoke with one person during our inspection visit and three people by phone. People spoke highly of this dentist practice. People were satisfied with the care and treatment they had received. Below are a few comments people made;

“Absolutely brilliant. They are really good, considerate and caring”.

“I have been using this dentist since it opened. They are really good. I recommend them to all my family and friends”.

“This is the second time I have been to this dentist. They are really good. They listen and find out what you want to have done and then give options”.

We also looked at recent comments made by people in the practice comment book. Below are a few of the comments that people using this dentist had made;

‘Excellent, nothing is too much trouble. They expelled all my fears about dentists’.

‘Great felt very relaxed’.

Evidence that we gathered during this review confirmed that people are assessed to decide what dental and oral healthcare needs they may have. Treatments that people may need are discussed with them and are carried out in a satisfactory way.

Overall we found some good practices regarding infection control and cleaning procedures.However,we identified one area where improvements should be made to prevent the risk of infection.

We found that recruitment processes are not fully carried out in line with current legislation. As a result of this people can not be assured that staff working at this location have been suitably checked to determine their fitness.