We inspected the Old Vicarage Dental Practice on 20 November 2013. We looked at the records of four patients in detail and spoke with them during their appointment. We met five patients waiting for appointments and asked them about their experiences. We spoke to another four patients over the phone who had attended sedation clinic appointments and been accompanied by relatives.

We asked NHS Devon for their comments because they have a monitoring role in the commissioning of NHS dental care at this practice. NHS Devon reported there were no concerns with this practice.

Patients made positive comments about their experience of treatment at the dental practice. For example, a patient who had treatment under sedation told us they felt “Very safe, I had a thing on my finger measuring my pulse all the way through”. Another patient said “We normally get a text to remind us about appointments, which is very good. The whole family comes and we’re quite satisfied.” We followed four patient’s appointments from start to finish and all said they had been comfortable and “Well looked after”. We saw dentists always asked patients about their health and explained treatment options with each patient before starting.

The practice had systems in place which meant patients were safe and well cared for. For example, the environment was clean and equipment safe to use because decontamination and cleaning procedures were robust. The team were motivated and caring with patients. For example, open events had been set up so the general public could learn about the sedation and other specialist services. The provider was compliant with all five outcomes we looked