We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 18 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

Southborough Dental Practice is a dental practice providing private and NHS treatment for both adults and children. The practice also provides a domiciliary dental service to people who can no longer access the practice due to frailty and a number of local care and nursing homes. The practice is based in a bespoke building in Southborough, Kent. The practice has parking at the back of the surgery. The practice has four dental treatment rooms. Three are on the ground floor and one on the first floor. There is a separate decontamination facility used for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments. The practice is accessible to wheelchair users, prams and patients with limited mobility. The practice employs four dentists, one specialist periodontics, three dental nurses and three receptionists. The practice’s opening hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8.30am to 17.30 pm, Wednesday 8.30 am to 18.30 pm and Friday 08.30 am to 16.30 pm. The service closes for lunch from 13.00 to 14.00.

There are arrangements in place to ensure patients receive urgent medical assistance when the practice is closed. This is provided by the local out of hours emergency dental NHS providers Dentline.

The practice owner is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual. 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.

We obtained the views of 24 patients from comment cards and direct feedback from two patients on the day of our inspection.

Our key findings were:

• We found that the practice ethos was to provide patient centred dental care in a relaxed and friendly environment.

• Leadership was provided by the principle dentist who was the practice owner.

• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines.

• The practice appeared clean and well maintained.

• There was appropriate equipment for staff to undertake their duties, and equipment was well maintained.

• Infection control procedures were of a high standard and the practice followed published guidance.

• The practice owner acted as the safeguarding lead with effective processes for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.

• There was a process for the reporting and shared learning when untoward incidents occurred in the practice.

• Dentists provided dental care in accordance with current professional and National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.

• The service was aware of the needs of the local population and took these into account in how the practice was run.

• Patients could access treatment and urgent and emergency care when required.

• Staff received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD) by the practice owner.

• Staff we spoke with felt very well supported by the practice owner and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.

•Feedback from 24 completed Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards gave us a positive picture of a friendly, caring, professional and high quality service.

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

• Consider the use of a hearing loop to assist with hard of hearing patients.