We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 11 May 2016 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

The Surgery North Chailey is situated in a suburban area of North Chailey in East Sussex and provides NHS and private treatment.

The dentists moved to the premises recently and refurbishments were still ongoing. There was suitable access for patients with mobility difficulties and for families with pushchairs and buggies.

The practice has three dentists, one qualified dental nurse, three student dental nurses and a practice manager. The team is overseen by three dentists who are the partners and an area manager. The practice currently has three dental treatment rooms and a decontamination room for the cleaning, sterilising and packing of dental instruments.

The practice is all on ground level with easy access to the front entrance and staff and patient toilets which are both fully equipped for people with physical disabilities.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to tell us about their experience of the practice. We collected nine completed cards and looked at 16 recent NHS Friends and Family forms which were available at the practice. We collected the views of a further eight patients who attended on the day of our inspection.

Patients were positive about the practice and their experience of being a patient there. They said they could not fault the service they received and several commented that the practice was excellent. Patients said the practice’s new premises were pleasant and very clean and were an improvement on the previous facilities. They described the staff as helpful and unhurried, and the dentist as kind and gentle. All 16 patients who filled in a Friends and Family form had selected the option confirming that they were ‘extremely likely’ to recommend the practice.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had a health and safety policy, relevant safety related risk assessments and an accident book.

They had a policy and established process for reporting and recording significant events but staff

confirmed none had occurred.

• The practice was visibly clean and arrangements for infection prevention and control were well organised.

• The practice had safeguarding guidance and information available for staff and the practice team

were aware of their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children.

• The practice had recruitment policies and procedures to help them check the staff they employed (including locums) were suitable. The policy reflected the requirements set out in the regulations.

• Dental care records provided adequate information about patients’ care and treatment and the amount of detail recorded was consistent.

• The dentists were appropriately qualified and arrangements were in place for them to

maintain their continuous professional development as required by the General Dental Council. Student nurses were enrolled on recognised courses.

• Patients were able to make routine and emergency appointments when needed.

• The practice had a suitable complaints procedure and information about this was available for patients.

• Because the staff team was so small, the meetings and discussions were largely informal.