We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 9 June 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.

Ivy cottage Dental Care is situated in Rotherham town centre. It offers NHS and private dental care services to patients of all ages. The services provided include preventative advice and treatment and routine restorative dental care. Treatment and waiting rooms are on the ground and first floor of the premises.

The practice is currently undergoing a full refurbishment as part of a continuous improvement plan.

The practice has five dentists, three which are part time; a dental hygiene therapist, seven dental nurses, two receptionists and a practice manager. One of the principle dentists is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. 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.

The practice is open Monday 9-00am to 7-00pm, Tuesday to Friday 8-30am to 5-30pm and Saturday 8-30am to 12-30pm.

We spoke with three patients who used the service on the day of inspection and reviewed 45 completed CQC comment cards. Patients we spoke with and those who completed comment cards were positive about the care they received about the service. They commented that staff were caring, helpful and respectful, treatment was well explained, the practice was clean and that they had no problems getting appointments.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had systems in place to assess and manage risks to patients and staff including infection prevention and control, health and safety and the management of medical emergencies.
• Dental care records were detailed and showed that treatment was planned in line with current best practice guidelines, for example Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP) and ‘The Delivering Better Oral Health Toolkit’ (DBOH).
• Patients were treated with care, respect and dignity.
• Patients were able to access appointments in a timely manner.
• There were clearly defined leadership roles within the practice and staff told us that they felt supported, appreciated and comfortable to raise concerns or make suggestions.

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

• Ensure risk assessments were included in policies where action would not be taken.
• Ensure that when responding to a complaint, the complainant receives all relevant contact details of other organisation if they wish to take the complaint further.
• Ensure all single use dental products are disposed of in the correct manner.