Archived: Moorland Dental Clinic

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 form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.

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

Moorland Dental Clinic is in Burslem, Stoke on Trent and provides private dental treatment to adults and children.

A portable ramp is used to provide access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs. Car parking spaces, including for blue badge holders, are available at a pay and display car park near the practice.

The dental team includes one dentist and two dental nurses, one of whom is the practice manager and the other who also works as a receptionist. The practice has one treatment room currently in use and another which has been recently refurbished and is now ready for use.

The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist there. They have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run.

On the day of inspection, we collected 35 CQC comment cards filled in by patients. CQC also received an email with positive feedback from one patient.

During the inspection we spoke with the dentist and both dental nurses. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open: Tuesday to Thursday from 8.30am to 2pm. The practice is open for telephone advice only on a Friday from 8.30am to 12.30pm. Staff work at the practice on a Monday, answering telephone calls, completing cleaning and administration duties.

Our key findings were:

• The practice appeared clean and well maintained. Refurbishment work had recently been completed including the commissioning of a ground floor treatment room.
• The provider had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available. Staff completed immediate life support and basic life support training every year.
• The provider had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
• The provider had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The provider had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
• The clinical staff provided patient care and treatment in line with current guidelines. Positive comments were received from patients about the treatments received.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The provider had effective leadership and culture of continuous improvement.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The provider had systems in place to deal with complaints positively and efficiently.
• The provider had suitable information governance arrangements.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:

• Take action to ensure that all clinical staff have adequate immunity for vaccine preventable infectious diseases.
• Take action to ensure the service takes into account the needs of patients with disabilities and to comply with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.