Archived: Ashby Dental Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 29 October 2015 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

Ashby Dental Practice is situated in the Ashby area of Scunthorpe. It offers mainly NHS treatment to patients of all ages but also offers private dental treatments. The services provided include preventative advice and treatment, and routine restorative dental care.

The practice has three surgeries, a decontamination room, a waiting area and a reception area. Toilet facilities are situated on the ground and first floor of the premises. The reception and waiting room are on the ground floor of the premises. There was one surgery on the ground floor and two surgeries on the first floor of the premises.

There are two dentists, five dental nurses (who also cover the reception on a rota basis) and a practice manager.

The opening hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 8-00am to 6-00pm, Wednesday 9-00am to 5-00pm and Friday 8-00am to 5-00pm.

The practice manager 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.

During the inspection we spoke with three patients who used the service and reviewed 28 completed CQC comment cards. Patients we spoke with and those who completed comment cards were positive about the care they received about the service.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had systems in place to assess and manage risks to patients and staff including infection prevention and control and health and safety.
• Oral health advice and treatment were provided in-line with the ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’ toolkit.
• There was an effective skill mix amongst the staff including an oral health educator.
• Patients were treated with care, respect and dignity by staff.
• Governance arrangements were in place for the smooth running of the practice; however the practice did not have a structured plan in place to audit quality and safety beyond the mandatory audits for infection control and radiography. They planned to establish a more detailed system for this.
• There were clearly defined leadership roles within the practice and staff told us that they felt supported, appreciated and comfortable to raise concerns or make suggestions. Staff received training appropriate to their roles.

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

• Aim to audit various aspects of the service, such as radiography and dental care records on a regular basis to monitor the quality of service.
• Undertake regular staff meetings.
• Undertake monthly water temperature tests from the recommendation of the most recent legionella risk assessment.
• Aim to record details of when a reference is given verbally.