We carried out a comprehensive inspection of TDSML on 21 May 2015. TDSML is located in the City of London and provides private dental services primarily to adults.

The practice team included eight dentists, six dental hygienists, 14 dental nurses, five receptionists and one practice manager.

We reviewed 37 Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards completed by patients who were very positive about the care they received from the practice. They commented that staff were caring, respectful and helpful.

One of the principal dentists is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had systems in place to help ensure patient safety. This included effective instrument decontamination practices.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles.
• Staff were knowledgeable about patient confidentiality and we observed good interaction between staff and patients during the inspection.
• Patients were able to make routine and emergency appointments when needed
• The patient comment cards we reviewed indicated that patients were consistently treated with kindness and respect by staff. It was reported that communication with patients, access to the service and to the dentists, was good. Patients reported good access to the practice.

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

• Adopt an individual risk based approach to patient recalls having regard to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
• Ensure a practice adult safeguarding policy is developed in order to signpost staff who may have concerns.
• Ensure a business continuity plan is in place to deal with foreseeable emergencies that could impact on the running of the practice.
• Ensure clinical and non-clinical audits e.g. X-ray and infection control are carried out periodically.
• Ensure patient records are kept with due regard to General Dental Council guidelines.
• Conduct quarterly testing of the ultra-sonic bath in accordance with Department of Health guidance.
• A system is established for the stock control of medicines such as antibiotics and fridge temperature is checked on a daily basis.
• Conduct water temperature checks as recommended in Legionella risk assessment.

We found that this practice was providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.