We spoke with three patients and were told that the staff were always very helpful and that “they explained all the options and we were given time to think about it”. One patient who had been having treatment for a year said “they always explain about what needs to be done” and “they asked me if I understood how to look after my brace”. People were very satisfied by their care and told us they would recommend the practice to others.

We were shown how all patients are helped to complete their medical history details and treatment options are coordinated by a specially trained member of staff so that patients feel cared for and are always encouraged to ask about their care. We saw that there were comprehensive treatment plans which as well as containing brief personal details, including dental history and clearly indicated that people had been consulted about their individual treatment.

We saw evidence that the standards of cleanliness and decontamination was audited using the Department of Health audit tool every quarter and we saw that the practice was achieving 91-100% compliance in this respect. There were effective systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.

We saw that there were training logs for individual staff members and how these were kept up to date by each individual. All patient records were stored securely and confidentiality was maintained.