We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection, due to concerns raised with regard to infection control on 20 March 2017 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

Wolseley Place Dental Practice is a dental practice providing a small amount of NHS and private treatment options for patients. The practice is located in premises in Ashford in Kent.

The practice has one treatment room, which is on the first floor of the building.

The practice provides dental services to both adults and children. The practice provides private treatment under a dental payment programme and individually to patients. Services provided include, general dentistry, dental hygiene, crowns and bridges, and root canal treatment. Patients also have the option of private treatment options such as implants on referral.

The practice’s opening hours are – Monday to Thursday 9am to 5.30pm and Friday 9am to 12pm. Evening and weekend appointments can be made by with prior arrangement with the practice.

Access for urgent treatment outside of opening hours is by telephoning the practice and following the instructions on the answerphone message for the local out of hours dental service or by telephoning the 111 NHS service.

The principal dentist/owner is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the practice is run.

The practice has one dentists and one qualified dental nurse.

We did not provide CQC comment cards prior to our inspection on this occasion as this was an unannounced inspection we did review feedback that practice had received through surveys, comments and complaints.

Our key findings were:

• The practice was visibly clean and tidy.

• Records showed there were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.

• Patients at the practice gave mostly positive feedback about their experiences at the practice.

• Dentists identified the different treatment options, and discussed these with patients.

• Patients’ confidentiality was maintained.

• The practice followed the relevant guidance from the Department of Health's: ‘Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 (HTM 01-05) for infection control with regard to cleaning and sterilising dental instruments.

• The practice had the necessary equipment for staff to deal with medical emergencies, and staff had been trained how to use that equipment. This included an automated external defibrillator, oxygen and emergency medicines.

We spoke with three patients. Patients told us they were very satisfied with the practice. They said they never had to wait long for appointments, and in an emergency they had always been seen on the same day. One patient said “I don’t like dentists so the fact I come here regularly speaks for itself”. Another patient told us “I have no faults with the dentist. The practice is clean enough for me”.

Patients said their treatment plans were always explained and discussed with them, including choices about treatment and costs. Patients said that the practice was always clean, and all the staff were friendly and welcoming.

We found that patients were not protected from the risk of infection because appropriate guidance had not been followed. We found that patients who use the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

Patients said that they were happy with the service provided. They thought that they had been given enough information about their treatment options and about the fees they would have to pay. They considered that their treatment had reliably met their dental needs. They were satisfied that the practice and the equipment used had been clean and they were confident that staff knew about the importance of good hygiene.

One patient said, 'The dentist is wonderful and he has been taking care of me for many years. He never tries to put any pressure on you and explains what needs to be done and what work he will have to do'.