We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 19 October 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.

Background

The Lonsdale Dental Practice provides private dental treatment to patients. The staff structure consists of one dentist, dental nurses and a practice manager.

This practice was open from Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm. A Saturday service is provided at the practice’s sister site Ashton Dental Practice based in Wigan.

The practice is situated in a purpose built property on one floor with level access throughout.

The practice owner 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.

CQC received feedback from four people during the visit about the service. All the comments we received were positive about the service and patients felt that the staff were caring and took time to explain their treatment options and the costs involved. Patients had recommended the practice to family and friends. We received 23 CQC comment cards. All of the comments were positive and confirmed patients found the service consistently good.

We saw that patients completed the practice’s own survey. The results confirmed that patients were happy with the treatment received and would recommend the practice to others.

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

Our key findings were:

• There were effective systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.
• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were readily available.
• There were systems in place to check all equipment had been serviced regularly, including the air compressor, autoclave, fire extinguishers, oxygen cylinder and the X-ray equipment.
• We found the dentists regularly assessed each patient’s oral health and took X-rays at appropriate intervals.
• The practice ensured staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.
• During our visit we observed staff were kind, caring, competent and put patients at their ease.

We spoke with three patients when we inspected who all commented they were very happy with the service. They all said they saw the dentist regularly and felt the care they received was excellent.

They confirmed that the dentist always explained what they were doing, what they had found during examination and what the treatment options were. They confirmed they had received information to enable them to decide upon treatment options.

Patients told us that the practice appeared very clean and staff always wore protective equipment when treating them. Feedback received from patients during the inspection and review of patient satisfaction surveys confirm that patients are happy with the service they receive.

One patient stated, “This practice lives up to its motto - we care for your smile.”

Another recorded, “Excellent facilities and a great range of treatments offered.”