Archived: Firth Park Dental

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 12 January 2017 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

Firth Park Dental is situated in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. The practice provides predominately NHS dental treatments. The services include preventative advice and treatment and routine restorative dental care.

The practice has one surgery, a decontamination room, a waiting area and a reception area. The surgery, waiting area and reception area are on the ground floor. The decontamination room, staff facilities and toilets are on the first floor of the premises.

There is currently one dentist, one locum dental nurse and two receptionists. The new owner is currently recruiting a practice manager and a permanent dental nurse.

The opening hours are Monday to Friday 9-00am to 5-00pm.

The principal dentist 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 five patients who used the service and reviewed 10 completed CQC comment cards. The patients were positive about the care and treatment they received at the practice. Comments included staff were very caring, friendly and helpful. They also commented the dentist provided good explanations about treatment options and the practice was clean and tidy.

Our key findings were:

• The practice was visibly clean and uncluttered.
• The practice had systems in place to assess and manage risks to patients and staff including health and safety and the management of medical emergencies.
• Staff were qualified and had received training appropriate to their roles.
• Patients were involved in making decisions about their treatment and were given clear explanations about their proposed treatment including costs, benefits and risks.
• Dental care records showed treatment was planned in line with current best practice guidelines.
• Oral health advice and treatment were provided in-line with the ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’ toolkit (DBOH).
• We observed patients were treated with kindness and respect by staff.
• Staff ensured there was sufficient time to explain fully the care and treatment they were providing in a way patients understood.
• The practice had a complaints system in place and there was an openness and transparency in how these were dealt with.
• Patients were able to make routine and emergency appointments when needed.
• The governance systems were effective.
• There were clearly defined leadership roles within the practice and staff told us they felt supported, appreciated and comfortable to raise concerns or make suggestions.

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

• Review the security of the first floor storage room and the access to the second floor.
• Review the audit protocols to document learning points that are shared with all relevant staff and ensure the resulting improvements can be demonstrated as part of the audit process.