We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 5 January 2017 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

Porterbrook Dental Centre is situated in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. The practice offers privately funded dental treatments. The services include preventative advice and treatment, routine restorative dental care and dental implants.

The practice is located within a medical centre, has two surgeries, a decontamination room, a spacious waiting area, a reception area and an office. All of the facilities are on the ground floor of the premises along with accessible toilets.

There is one dentist and two dental nurses (one of whom is a trainee). The practice also employs a specialist restorative dentist.

The opening hours are Monday to Friday 9-00am to 7-00pm. Appointments are available on a Saturday by prior arrangement only.

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

During the inspection we received feedback from 18 patients. The patients were positive about the care and treatment they received at the practice. Comments included staff were professional,caring and their needs were met. They also commented the dentist explained the treatments well and the premises appeared clean and safe.

Our key findings were:

• The practice was visibly clean and uncluttered.

• Staff were qualified and had received training appropriate to their roles.
• Patients were involved in making decisions about their treatment and were given clear explanations about their proposed treatment including costs, benefits and risks.
• Dental care records showed treatment was planned in line with current best practice guidelines.
• Oral health advice and treatment were provided in-line with the ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’ toolkit (DBOH).
• We observed patients were treated with kindness and respect by staff.
• There was a warm and welcoming feel to the practice.
• Staff ensured there was sufficient time to explain fully the care and treatment they were providing in a way patients understood.
• The practice had a complaints system in place and there was an openness and transparency in how these were dealt with.
• Patients were able to make routine and emergency appointments when needed.
• The governance systems were effective.
• There were clearly defined leadership roles within the practice and staff told us they felt supported, appreciated and comfortable to raise concerns or make suggestions.
• Some areas surrounding risk management required improvement.

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

• Review availability of a secondary dose of adrenaline to manage anaphylaxis giving due regard to guidelines in the British National Formulary (BNF).
• Review the practice’s protocols for medicines management and ensure a log of prescription only medicines is implemented.
• Review the protocol for making appropriate notes of verbal references taken.
• Review the practice’s process to assess, monitor and mitigate the various risks arising from undertaking of the regulated activities.

We spoke privately with three people who were attending the practice for check ups or treatment. All three people told us that they were happy with all aspects of the service. People commented; “I have been coming here for 25 years and never had any problems or issues. All the staff are friendly and helpful,” “the staff are lovely, friendly and efficient” and “you can put your trust in this dentist. They are always happy to help.”

People told us that the dentist explained all the procedures and treatments to them and respected their decisions about their treatment and care. Their comments included; “the dentist always explains what’s going on” and “my treatment is always discussed with me and I am able to decide which option to go for.”

People spoken with said that they always found the practice clean, tidy and hygienic. We found people received care and treatment in a clean environment with infection control measures in place to minimise the risk of infection.

The provider had a satisfactory recruitment and selection procedure in place to ensure that staff were appropriately employed. Staff were provided with relevant training to maintain and update their skills and knowledge.

The provider had an appropriate system in place for gathering, recording and evaluating information about the quality and safety of care the service provides. People who used the service were asked for their views about their care and treatment.