Archived: The Dental Surgery

Updated 11 February 2016

The inspection took place on 3 September 2015 and was conducted by a CQC inspector who was accompanied by specialist dental adviser.

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, and the details of their staff members and proof of registration with their professional bodies.

During the inspection we spoke with the practice manager, a dentist, lead dental nurse, and reviewed policies, procedures and other documents. We also spoke with patients. We reviewed two comment cards that we had supplied prior to the inspection, for patients to complete, about the services provided at the practice.

Updated 11 February 2016

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 3 September 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

The Dental Surgery, 8 Kings Road, Fareham, Hampshire, provides family dental care to both adults and children mainly under NHS regulations with a small amount of care being provided under private contract.

The practice is situated in a converted domestic property. The practice provides services on the ground floor and first floor. The practice has three dental treatment rooms and a separate decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments.

The practice is owned by an individual dentist and has two associate dentists who work throughout the working week, two dental nurses and two part-time dental hygiene-therapists. The clinical team is supported by a practice manager and three members of a reception team.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission(CQC) comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We collected two completed cards and spoke with five patients. These provided a positive view of the service the practice provides.

Our key findings were:

• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines.

• The practice was visibly clean.

• All equipment used in the practice was maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

• Infection control procedures were robust and the practice followed published guidance.

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current professional guidelines

• The practice had effective safeguarding processes in place and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.

• Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning.

• The practice had enough staff to deliver the service.

• The practice placed an emphasis on the promotion of good oral health and provided regular oral health instruction to patients.

• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development.

The practice had been previously inspected by CQC in February 2014 when is was found to be meeting the required standards.