We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 19 February 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

Signature Dental is located in Chislehurst, Kent. The practice consists of two treatment rooms, a waiting room, decontamination area, reception area and patient toilet. All the facilities are situated on the ground floor. The practice has wheelchair access and parking is available outside the surgery.

The practice provides private dental treatment to children and adults. The practice offers a range of dental treatments such as routine examinations, general dental treatments, oral hygiene care, and restorative treatments such as veneers, crowns, bridges, implants and sedation for anxious patients.

The practice is open Monday – Tuesday 8am-5.00pm, Wednesday-Thursday 8am-8pm and Saturday 9am-1pm. The staff structure consists of a principal dentist, two part time associate dentists, two dental nurses, one receptionist and two hygienists.

The principal dentist is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 inspection took place over one day and was carried out by a CQC inspector and a dental specialist advisor.

We received 28 CQC comment cards completed by patients and spoke with four patients during our inspection visit. Patients we spoke with, and those who completed comment cards, were positive about the care they received from the practice. They were complimentary about the staff and the treatment they had received and told us they were able to access appointments easily. We were told the staff were friendly and professional at all times.

Our key findings were:

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned in line with current guidance such as from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

• There were effective systems in place to reduce and minimise the risk and spread of infection.
• The practice had effective safeguarding processes in place and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• Equipment, such as the air compressor, autoclave (steriliser), fire extinguishers, and X-ray equipment had all been checked for effectiveness and had been regularly serviced.

• Patients indicated that they felt they were listened to and that they received good care from a helpful and caring practice team.

• The practice had implemented clear procedures for managing comments, concerns or complaints.
• The practice manager had a clear vision for the practice and staff told us they were well supported by the management team.
• Governance arrangements and audits were effective in improving the quality and safety of the services.

There were no appointments arranged for the day of the inspection and so we were unable to speak to people who use the service. We were however able to see responses the patient satisfaction survey which were very complimentary. We saw the following quotes "warm welcome", "staff always friendly", "I feel as though I have enough time and information to decide about me treatment".