People who receive a service from Visiting Specialist Services (VSS) do so through referral by their own dental practice. Therefore, for this inspection we did not speak with the people who received treatment, though contacted 16 dental practices that use the services of VSS to seek feedback about the work they do with people who received treatment. We received feedback from 11 dental practices, and this has been referred to within the report.

The dental practices said they used VSS as it meant that people could have more complex treatments in their own dental practice, in familiar surroundings with staff they knew. They said this was reassuring to people, especially where people were nervous about receiving treatment.

Some of the comments we received from the dental practices were “we have nothing but absolute trust and faith in the service and level of care we receive for all our patients”, “we have been very happy with everything and would highly recommend the service”, “we have had very good feedback from both our team and patients” and “overall we have been extremely impressed with the high standards and professionalism of this service”.

VSS took time to explain procedures and options to people, so that people had informed consent prior to agreeing to treatments.

The equipment was appropriate to the treatment that people received and was regularly checked to ensure that it was sterile and safe for use.

There were robust recruitment procedures in place to minimise risks to people.