Our inspection on the 25 February 2014 found that patients had not always been protected from the risks of infection, because the provider had not taken appropriate action to ensure that the risk and spread of infection was minimised at all times.

We asked the provider to take action to address these concerns. They wrote to us confirming that all required actions had been taken to comply with the regulations regarding cleanliness and infection control. A planned follow-up inspection was scheduled to check that the provider had achieved compliance.

At this inspection on the 7 August 2014, we found that the provider was able to demonstrate that they had met the compliance actions set to address the areas of concern identified at our previous inspection.

At the time of our inspection, we had concerns relating to the cleanliness and infection control procedures at the practice. We spoke with three dental nurses, two dentists and the provider.

The practice had an infection control policy and during our inspection, we observed that clinical staff followed the policy and the related procedures. However, records were not kept of the infection control tasks and cleaning activity undertaken to evidence that staff followed the procedures on a day-to-day basis.

The provider was not always effectively auditing infection control systems and procedures to monitor and check that essential quality requirements were achieved and maintained. There were no records to demonstrate how the provider followed up and acted on issues that had been identified by the audits undertaken and what actions had been taken to address infection control problems when they arose.

We found that not all clinical staff had received specific infection control training during the previous year.

We spoke with four patients who told us that they were happy with the service provided. Patients told us they were very satisfied with the practice. They said they never had to wait long for appointments, and in an emergency they had always been seen on the same day. One patient said “I have always been very happy with this dental practice. Our whole family use the services and they are always accommodating”. Another patient said "I would recommend them to anybody and I do”.

Patients said their treatment plans were always explained and discussed with them, including choices about treatment and costs.

Patients said that the practice was always clean, and all the staff were friendly, welcoming and respectful.