There were no patients at the surgery during our visit however it was not necessary to speak to people who used the service to assess the improvements made by the provider.

This was a follow-up visit to the Didsbury Dental Practice to check whether the provider had achieved the improvements that were found to be needed at the previous inspection in August 2013. At that inspection there was inadequate evidence to show that the vetting process for staff who worked at the surgery was robust. At this follow-up inspection visit we saw significant improvements had been made. We now saw that systems were in place to ensure suitable staff were employed and so the safety and wellbeing of people who used the service were promoted.

People who used the service told us the dental practice provided them with enough information to make an informed choice about their treatment. We were told that this information included an explanation of the different stages, cost, and timescales for the different treatments.

We were told: “He (the dentist) checked me and explained what may have happened. I was given some medicine and he said I don’t need treatment now, but to wait and see because I’m feeling better than I was.”

And:

“My treatment and the costs have been fully explained and articulated by the dentist.”

We found that people were safe when they received treatment at the practice and systems were in place to deal with emergencies.

We saw that sufficient systems were in place to reduce the risk of cross infection.

We found that systems were in place to check the quality of the service provided.

We found that improvements were needed in relation to ensuring that suitable staff were employed at the practice.