Riverview Dental Centre

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection on 05 November 2015 due to receiving some concerning information 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

Riverview Dental Centre provides predominately NHS dental services with private treatment options for patients. The practice has six consulting and treatment rooms, has four dentists and one foundation training dentist who are supported by four dental nurses. The practice is managed by a practice manager and a group manager with a principal dentist supporting the whole team.

Riverview Dental Centre is an approved training practice for dental foundation training (DFT). DFT introduces newly qualified dentists to general practice in a supportive environment. This is usually for one year and includes training to prepare dentists for working in the NHS.

One of the dentists 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.

We spoke with four patients who told us that they were satisfied with the services they had received. All stated their experiences at the practice were excellent, that staff were kind and caring and appointments were readily available both for emergencies and routine visits. They spoke about how their dignity and privacy was maintained at all times and how they were involved in decisions regarding their care and treatment. We did not receive any comment cards prior to our inspection as this was unannounced.

Our key findings were:

• Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning.
• The practice was visibly clean and well maintained.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current best practice guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and other published guidance.
• The practice had effective safeguarding processes and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD).
• The practice took into account any comments, concerns or complaints and used these to help them improve the practice.
• Patients were pleased with the care and treatment they received and complimentary about the dentists and all other members of the practice team.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

• All staff to complete Mental Capacity Act 2005 training.