Archived: Mount Road Dental Practice

Updated 19 November 2015

The inspection took place on 30 July 2015 and was conducted by a CQC inspector and a specialist dental advisor.

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.

Prior to the inspection we asked the practice to send us some information which we reviewed. This included the complaints they had received in the last 12 months, their latest statement of purpose, the details of their staff members, their qualifications and proof of registration with their professional bodies.

We also reviewed the information we held about the practice and found there were no areas of concern.

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

During the inspection we spoke with a number of staff working on the day. We reviewed policies, procedures and other documents. We reviewed eight comment cards that we had left prior to the inspection, for patients to complete, about the services provided at the practice.

Updated 19 November 2015

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 30 July 2015 to ask the practice the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

The practice is owned by Mount Road Dental Partnership. There are three dentists, three dental nurses and a practice manager who is also a dental nurse. The current owners have only been in charge four weeks when we went to inspect.

The practice provides NHS and private dental treatment services to both adults and to children. The practice is open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5pm.

Dr Ruby Mahal is the identified registered person for the practice. 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 viewed eight CQC comment cards that had been left for patients to complete, prior to our visit, about the services provided. All of the comment cards reflected positive comments about the staff and the services provided. Patients commented that the practice was clean and hygienic, they found the staff very friendly and approachable and they found the quality of the dentistry to be excellent. They said explanations were clear and made the dental experience as comfortable as possible

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

Our key findings were:

• The practice recorded and analysed significant events and complaints and cascaded learning to staff.
• Staff had received formal safeguarding training and knew the processes to follow to raise any concerns.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Staff had been trained to deal with medical emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were readily available.
• Infection control procedures were in place; however staff did not always have access to personal protective equipment. The storage of clinical waste waiting to be collected could be a hazard.
• Patients’ care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines, best practice and current legislation.
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about it.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and confidentiality was maintained.
• The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.
• There was an effective complaints system.
• The practice was well-led and staff felt involved and worked as a 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.

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

• Make personal protective equipment available to staff at all times. Aprons should be easily accessible and used during the decontamination process.
• Review the storage of clinical waste prior to collection to alleviate the potential risk of fire within the practice.
• Make disposable paper towels available, correctly stored and easily accessible to reduce the risk of cross infection.