During our visit we spoke with the principal orthodontist, three members of the management team, a student orthodontic therapist and three dental nurses.

We visited the service after concerns had been raised with regard to patients receiving treatment together in the same room without being asked if this was alright with them. We found that patients were seen together for adjustment appointments.

Patients we spoke with told us that they were involved in their care and treatment options. Patients were happy with the care provided and commented on how clean the practice was each time they visited. One patient said “I snapped my brace, it was really uncomfortable and the staff got me in the same day to sort it out.” Another patient told us “I feel comfortable around the staff here, they have all been lovely.”

We toured the practice and found it to be clean and tidy. The practice had effective systems in place to reduce the risk and the spread of infection. We found that infection control procedures were in line with current guidelines from the Department of Health.

We found that there were effective recruitment and selection processes in place for the recruitment and management of staff, and the staff had had the necessary recruitment checks.

We looked at information from patient feedback forms and other audits undertaken by the provider to assess the quality of the service. There were a number of audits undertaken by the practice to ensure an effective service was provided to patients.