Archived: Shawbirch Dental Practice

Updated 18 March 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the practice was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The inspection took place on 9 February 2016 was led by a CQC inspector and supported by a specialist dental adviser. Prior to the inspection, we asked the practice to send us some information that we reviewed. This included the complaints they had received in the last 12 months, their latest statement of purpose, and the details of their staff members including proof of registration with their professional bodies.

We informed NHS England area team that we were inspecting the practice; however, we did not receive any information of concern from them.

During the inspection, we spoke with the practice manager, dentist, dental hygienist and reviewed policies, procedures and other documents. We reviewed comment cards that we had left prior to the inspection, for patients to complete, about the services provided at the practice.

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 therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 18 March 2016

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 9 February 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

Shawbirch Dental Practice is a mixed dental practice providing mainly private treatment with some NHS treatment for exempt adults and children. The practice has been open for about twenty five years. The practice is situated in a converted commercial property. The practice had two dental treatment rooms, a separate room with an area set aside for the cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments, a reception and waiting area on the ground floor.

The practice is open 9.00am to 5.30pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Wednesday 9.00am to 1.00pm and Friday 9.00am to 3.30pm. The practice has one dentist, the practice owner, and they are supported by a dental nurse. The practice has a practice manager who also acts as a senior dental nurse and receptionist. The practice also employs two part-time dental hygienists.

The practice owner is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

Before the inspection, we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We received feedback from 33 patients. These provided a completely positive view of the services the practice provides. Patients commented on the high quality of care, the caring nature of all staff, the cleanliness of the practice and the overall high quality of customer care.

Our key findings were:

• The practice philosophy was to provide high quality patient centred care with an emphasis on the prevention of dental disease at all times.
• Strong and effective clinical leadership was provided by the practice owner.
• The practice also benefitted from a stable staff base and an empowered practice manager.
• The dentist and the other clinical staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines.
• The practice appeared clean and well maintained.
• Infection control procedures were robust and the practice followed published guidance.
• The dentist acted as the safeguarding lead with effective processes in place for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• A system was in place to report incidents with practice meetings used as a vehicle for shared learning.
• The dentist provided dental care in accordance with current professional and National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines
• The service was aware of the needs of the local population and took these into account in how the practice was run.
• Patients could access treatment, urgent and emergency care when required.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD).
• Staff we spoke to felt well supported by the practice owner and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.
• Information from 33 completed Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards gave us a completely positive picture of a friendly, caring, professional and high quality service.
• The practice received no complaints in 2015.

The practice had completed a series of regular audits to ensure that the quality of care was maintained at all times.