Archived: The Visiting Dental Service

We accompanied the visiting dentist on a visit to one person's home. We also telephoned four more patients to hear their views and experiences about using the service. In addition we telephoned four care homes where the dentist had regular clients. We spoke with the managers of the care homes. They told us they found the visiting dentist service easy to access and in their opinions the dentist had a caring approach with people.

We checked people were fully involved in reaching decisions about their dental treatment and that viable options for treatment were discussed with people. Where a persons' ability to reach an informed decision was impaired the provider acted legally to promote peoples understanding and promote their rights. Care and treatment was delivered safely and in a way that promoted high standards of infection control. We looked at a selection of the providers' records. These were maintained in good order and securely stored to protect people's confidentiality. The provider met the five standards we inspected.