We carried out this announced inspection on 15 November 2017 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We planned the inspection to check whether the registered provider was meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations. The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser and an NHS contracts manager as an observer.

We told the NHS England area team that we were inspecting the practice. They provided information which we took into account.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it caring?

• Is it responsive to people’s needs?

• Is it well-led?

These questions form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.

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

Shirley Road Dental Practice is in Shirley, Southampton and provides private treatment to patients of all ages.

Car parking spaces, including for patients with disabled badges, are available near the practice.

The dental team includes five dentists, three dental nurses and two receptionists. The practice has four treatment rooms.

The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist there. They have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run.

On the day of inspection we collected 31 CQC comment cards filled in by patients and spoke with four other patients. This information gave us a positive view of the practice.

During the inspection we spoke with three dentists, two dental nurses and two receptionists. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm/

Our key findings were:

• The practice was clean and well maintained.
• The practice had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The practice had systems to help them manage risk.
• The practice had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children.
• The practice had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• The appointment system met patients’ needs.
• The practice had effective leadership. Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The practice asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The practice dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:

• Review the practice’s audit protocols to ensure audits of various aspects of the service, such as radiography, infection prevention and control and clinical records undertaken at regular intervals to help improve the quality of service. The practice should also ensure, that where appropriate audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.

• Review availability of medicines and equipment to manage medical emergencies taking into account guidelines issued by the British National Formulary, the Resuscitation Council (UK), and the General Dental Council (GDC) standards for the dental team.

• Review the practice's protocols for monitoring and recording the fridge temperature to ensure that medicines and dental care products are being stored in line with the manufacturer’s guidance.

• Review the practice's environmental risk assessments and ensure a fire risk assessment is undertaken and the necessary actions implemented.

People told us they had been coming to the same dentist for many years. They told us they had confidence in the dentist surgery. We were told all the staff who works at the surgery are polite and helpful. People told us they were always told about what treatment they needed and would be given an estimate of how much it would cost to carry out the treatment. People told us the surgery was always clean and there was information in the waiting rooms regarding dental health and hygiene.