We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 1 February 2017 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

Imagine Dental Practice is located in a parade of shops in the town of East Preston. The practice provides NHS and private dental treatment to both adults and children.

The premises are on the ground floor and the practice consists of three treatment rooms, one of which was being refurbished at the time of the inspection, a reception and patient waiting area and a decontamination room.

The practice is open on Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.30pm. The staff consists of the principal dentist, two associate dentists, one dental hygienist, two trainee nurses, one receptionist trained nurse and practice coordinator and a practice manager who is also a qualified dental nurse.

The practice manager is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual ‘registered person’. 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 obtained the views of seven patients who had recently had treatment at the practice. Patients were positive about the service. They told us that staff were friendly and helpful and that they could make an appointment easily.

The inspection took place over one day and was carried out by a CQC inspector and a dental specialist advisor.

Our key findings were:

• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and confidentiality was maintained.
• Patients had good access to appointments, including emergency appointments, which were available on the same day.
• There was a process in place for the reporting of untoward incidents that occurred in the practice
• The dental care records we saw showed that dentists provided dental care in accordance with current professional and National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
• The practice had all emergency medicines and equipment in line with the British National Formulary (BNF) guidance for medical emergencies in dental practices and the Resuscitation Council (UK) guidelines.
• The practice had safeguarding processes in place and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and child protection.
• Equipment, such as the autoclave (steriliser), fire extinguishers, and X-ray equipment had all been checked for effectiveness and had been regularly serviced.
• The practice had implemented clear procedures for managing comments, concerns or complaints.
• Leadership structures were clear and there were processes in place for dissemination of information and feedback to staff.
• There were good governance arrangements, and some improvements were made to ensure that all staff were made aware of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) and the policy underpinning this was up to date.
• Most staff were up to date with their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training requirements.
• The practice completed audits in medical history taking, infection control and radiography.

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

• Review the practice’s procedures for checking of the emergency oxygen cylinder to ensure that staff are familiar with its use.
• Review the practice’s arrangements for receiving and responding to patient safety alerts, recalls and rapid response reports issued from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and through the Central Alerting System (CAS), as well as from other relevant bodies, such as Public Health England (PHE).
• Review the training, learning and development needs of individual staff members and have an effective process established for the on-going assessment and supervision of all staff.
• Review the use of audits to help monitor and improve the quality of service. The practice should also check that where appropriate, audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.
• Review the practice’s systems for reviewing and updating its risk assessments, policies and procedures with respect to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).
• Review current systems to ensure internal communication and shared learning are promoted amongst the practice staff.

People were complimentary about the care that they received at Imagine Dental. They told us that hey were kept informed about treatment choices and felt that they were treated with respect by staff.

One person said, "I have been seeing this dentist for a few years now, I have always found them to be very good."

Another person said, "I have never needed to complain, I have always felt that the care here is very good".

We found that people were given choices, and were well informed about treatments available to them.