Archived: Kirkgate Dental Surgery

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 30 June 2015. We had previously inspected the practice on 5 June 2013, when they were found to be meeting the five standards. The practice offers both NHS and private treatments. The staff structure at the practice includes the principal dentist and four associate dentists. There are six fully qualified dental nurses, one trainee dental nurse and a decontamination assistant. There is a practice manager, who has a dental nurse qualification and a receptionist who is the first aider and fire officer. The practice is open from 9.00am to 6.00pm Monday to Thursday and from 9.00am to 5.30pm on Friday. The practice is closed from 1.00pm to 2.00pm each day for lunch.

The practice is housed in converted residential properties and is spread across two floors. There are four treatment rooms, two on the ground floor and two on the first floor. The reception and waiting area are on the ground floor along with a dedicated decontamination room and patient toilet. There is a further waiting area and patient toilet on the first floor. The practice is accessible to patients with restricted mobility as treatment can be carried out in the ground floor treatment rooms.

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.

Feedback was provided by 96 patients overwhelmingly they said how well they were treated by all members of staff. All patients commented positively about the care and treatment they had received and the friendly, polite and professional staff. They were listened to and were provided with sufficient information to make informed choices. A number of patients commented on the discussions they had with the dentist about their care and treatment and how they felt listened to and were made to feel relaxed.

We found this practice was providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Our findings were:

• The practice provided a clean well equipped environment.
• There was a system in place for when mistakes might be made, patients would receive an apology and would be informed of any actions taken following an investigation.
• There was promotion of patient education to ensure good oral health.
• The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.
• The practice had an accessible and visible leadership team. Staff on duty told us they felt supported by the leadership team.
• Governance systems were effective and there was a range of clinical and non-clinical audits to monitor the quality of services.
• The practice sought feedback from staff and patients about the services they provided.