We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 7 January 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

Chequer Hall Dental Practice is a mixed dental practice providing both NHS and private treatment to children and adults. It has a standard NHS contract and offers general dentistry services to about 16,000 patients. The practice is part of the Mydentist Group who have a large number of dental practices across the UK.

The practice employs seven dentists and one dental hygienist. They are supported by eight dental nurses, a practice manager and deputy, and four receptionists. It opens Monday to Thursday from 8.30am to 5.30 pm, and on Fridays between 8am and 4pm.

The practice manager 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 has six treatment rooms, a decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments and a large staff room.

We spoke with three patients during our inspection and also received 37 comments cards that had been completed by patients prior to our inspection. We received many positive comments about the cleanliness of the premises, the empathy and responsive of staff, and the quality of treatment provided. Patients told us they had confidence and trust in the last dentist they saw and appreciated the text service offered, which helped remind them of their appointments .

Our key findings were:

• The practice had systems to help ensure patient safety. These included safeguarding children and adults from abuse, maintaining the required standards of infection prevention and control, and responding to medical emergencies.

• Patients’ care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines, best practice and current legislation

• Staff received training appropriate to their roles and told us they felt well supported to carry out their work.

• The practice sought feedback from staff and patients and used it to improve the service provided.

• Patients were treated in a way that they liked and information about them was treated confidentially.

• Governance systems were effective and there was a range of audits and patient surveys to monitor the quality of services

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

• Change the direction of the fan in the decontamination room so the air flow is going from the clean to the dirty zone.

• Secure external clinical waste bins to a wall.

• Improve staff’s knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act and issues around Gillick competency relevant to dental practice and how this might affect their care of patients who might not able to give consent or who are younger than 16.