We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Ixia Dental on 21 May 2015. Ixia Dental is located in the London Borough of Brent in north-west London. The premises consist of a waiting area with a reception desk and two treatment rooms. There is also a separate decontamination room.

The practice provides NHS and private dental services and treats both adults and children. The practice provides a range of dental services including routine examinations and treatment, veneers, crowns and bridges, tooth whitening and oral hygiene.

The staff structure of the practice is comprised of two dentists (who are also the owners and practice managers), four dental nurses, who also act as receptionists, and one trainee dental nurse. The practice is a training practice for the Dental Foundation Training (DFT) scheme. DFT provides postgraduate dental education for newly qualified dentists in their first (foundation) year of practice; usually within general dental practices. One of the principal dentists is a trainer for the DFT scheme and provides clinical and educational supervision. The practice currently has one dentist who is in their first (foundation) year of practice. The practice is open Monday to Thursday from 9.00am to 5.00pm and on Friday from 9.30am to 12.30pm.

One of the dentists is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

This practice was registered with the CQC in November 2013. We carried out an announced, comprehensive inspection on 21 May 2015. The inspection took place over one day and was carried out by a CQC inspector and dentist specialist advisor.

We received 15 CQC comment cards completed by patients and spoke with three patients in the waiting area. Patients we spoke with, and those who completed comment cards, were positive about the care they received from the practice. They were complimentary about the friendly and caring attitude of the dental staff.

We found that this practice was providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Our key findings were:

• There were systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection. We found all treatment rooms and equipment appeared clean.

• Equipment, such as the air compressor, autoclave (steriliser), fire extinguishers, oxygen cylinder and X-ray equipment had all been checked for effectiveness and had been regularly serviced.

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current guidance.

• The practice ensured staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.

• The feedback we received from patients indicated that they felt they were listened to and that they received good care in a clean environment from a helpful and patient practice team.

• The practice had implemented clear procedures for managing comments, concerns or complaints.

• The principal dentists had a clear vision for the practice and there were appropriate governance arrangements in place. Staff told us they were well supported by the management team.

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

• Review the storage of emergency medicines to reduce the risk of them being accessed inappropriately.