We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 21 August 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 providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Background

The practice has one full time dentist who is also the registered provider. (A registered provider is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered providers have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run). There are two permanent dental nurses and two part time dental nurses who provide cover as required. One of the dental nurses is also the practice manager. The practice offers private dental care services to patients of all ages and currently has 1400 patients on its practice list. The services provided include preventative advice and treatment and routine and restorative dental care, including dental implants. The practice has one treatment room with a separate designated decontamination area.

The practice is open Monday to Thursday 9.00am to 5pm and on Friday from 9.00am to 2.30pm. Appointments are made outside these core hours by arrangement.

We viewed 24 CQC comment cards that had been left for patients to complete, prior to our visit, about the services provided. We reviewed patient feedback gathered by the practice over the last 12 months. Patients who completed CQC comments cards were positive about the care they received from the practice. They commented they had confidence in the staff and that staff were caring and respectful, put them at ease and listened to any concerns.

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.

• Dental care records showed on-going monitoring of patients’ oral health. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles.

• Patients commented they felt involved in their treatment and that it was fully explained to them. The practice had an efficient appointment system in place to respond to patients’ needs.

• We reviewed 24 CQC comment cards that had been completed by patients. Common themes were patients felt they were listened to and received very good care in a clean environment from a helpful practice team.

• The dental practice had effective clinical governance and risk management structures in place. There were systems to monitor the quality of the service.

We spoke with people who used the service and reviewed comments in the surgeries comments book. All were positive about the care they received and felt "welcomed" by the staff. People who used the service paid privately and were part of a denplan scheme. The Denplan scheme carried out checks on the quality of the service. Their website showed the service was part of their excel accredited quality assurance scheme.

Comments included,

"They are fantastic"," nothing is ever done that I don’t agree with [the dentist] is not allowed to retire" and "I am always given the right information".

During our visit we saw there was a variety of information available in the reception area. This included general information about average cost of treatment and more

specific leaflets for people with a medical condition that could affect their dental health.