We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 8 December 2015 as part of our regulatory functions where a breach of legal requirements was found. After the comprehensive inspection, the surgery wrote to us to say what they would do to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breach.

We followed up on our inspection of 8 December 2015 to check that the surgery had implemented their plan and to confirm that they now met the legal requirements. We carried out a desk based review on 4 July 2016 to check whether the practice had taken action to address a breach of Regulations 17(1) (2) (a) and (b) and 18(2)(a) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. We have not revisited Cramlington Dental Centre for this review because the practice were able to demonstrate that they were meeting the standards without the need for a visit.

Our findings were:

Are services well-led?

We found that this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Cramlington Dental Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 8 December 2015 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 not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

The practice is owned by Dr. Richard Grant.

The practice offers

primary care dentistry under the NHS and private treatments and procedures from purpose built premises.

The practice is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5.30pm.

There are three dentists, five dental nurses, two trainee dental nurses, two hygienists and two receptionists. The practice has five dental surgeries.

Dr Richard Grant, the principal dentist is the registered provider for the practice. 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 patients about the service via 44 Care Quality Commission comment cards. All the comments were positive about the staff and the services provided. Comments included: staff are very friendly, excellent, professional and supportive.

Our key findings were:

• There was an effective complaints system.
• Staff had received safeguarding training, knew how to recognise signs of abuse and how to report it.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Staff had been trained to manage medical emergencies.
• Infection control procedures were in place.
• Patient care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines and current regulations.
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about it.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and their confidentiality was maintained.
• Patients could access routine treatment and urgent care when required.
• Staff felt involved and supported, and worked well as a team.
• The governance systems were not fully effective.
• The practice sought feedback from staff and patients about the services they provided.

We identified regulations that were not being met and the provider must:

• Ensure audits of various aspects of the service, such as radiography, dental care records and infection control are undertaken at regular intervals to help improve the quality of service. The practice must also ensure all audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.

• Ensure that all staff receive annual appraisals.

You can see full details of the regulations not being met at the end of this report.

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

• Review the frequency that Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) takes place and ensure that the tests are undertaken when recommended.

We spoke with four people who used the service to find out their opinions of the treatment provided. People were positive about the treatment provided. They said their dentist explained things well and that they had been given choices about what treatment to have.

One person told us they had been coming to the dentist for a long time. This person said, "The dentist listens to me, the place is clean and they always explain what they are doing and how much it will cost." People told us they felt comfortable and safe in the practice and that the practice was always kept clean and tidy.

We found systems for decontamination of dental instruments were based on national guidance and these were followed in practice.

People were positive about the staff who worked there. They said they received reminders when they were due to attend for further treatment or routine appointments.

We found staff had appropriate training opportunities provided and records were available to reflect this.