We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 30 August 2016 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

Just Smile is a well-established small dental practice that provides private treatment to adults and children. The practice has about 500 registered patients. The team consists of one part-time dentist, one part-time hygienist, a dental nurse and receptionist. The practice has one treatment room, a separate room for the decontamination of instruments and a reception and waiting area.

It is open from 9am to 5pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 9am to 7pm on a Tuesday, and from 9am to 2pm on a Friday.

The dentist is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual. 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.

Before the inspection we sent comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We received feedback from 30 patients who commented positively about the quality of the service, the friendliness of staff and the presentation of the environment.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had systems to help ensure patient safety. These included safeguarding children and adults from abuse, responding to medical emergencies and managing radiographs.

• The practice was visibly clean and well maintained. Infection control and decontamination procedures were good, ensuring patients’ safety.

• There was appropriate equipment for staff to undertake their duties, and equipment was well maintained.

• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified and competent staff. Members of the dental team were up-to-date with their continuing professional development and supported to meet the requirements of their professional registration.

• Patients were treated in a way that they liked and were involved in decisions about their treatment.

• Patients received their care and treatment from well-trained and supported staff, who enjoyed their work.

• The practice listened to its patients and staff and acted upon their feedback.

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

• Implement robust processes for reporting, recording, acting on and monitoring significant events, incidents and near misses.

• 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).

• Review availability of medicines and equipment to manage medical emergencies giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Resuscitation Council (UK), and the General Dental Council (GDC) standards for the dental team.

• Review the practice’s sharps handling procedures to ensure it complies with the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013.

• Review whether the hygienist should be provided with the support of an appropriately trained member of the dental team.

• Review appraisal protocols to ensure that all staff working at the practice have their performance monitored and assessed.

People we spoke with confirmed that their consent was obtained before any procedure was started. They were able to change their decision about treatment options and this was respected. They also confirmed that they were asked their opinion of the treatment they received so that any changes could be made if this was required.

All of the people we spoke with said they received treatment plans and the dentist gave them clear information about their treatment options, the risks and benefits of each option.

They said that the surgery was always clean when they visited and they were all confident in the abilities of dentists and dental nurses. We found, however, that some areas of the environment required attention to ensure they did not pose a risk of infection.