Mydentist - Little Horton Lane - Bradford Also known as mydentist

Updated 13 August 2015

This announced inspection was carried out on 13 July 2015 by a dentally qualified CQC inspector.

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

During the inspection we toured the premises, spoke with three dentists, one dental nurse, two reception staff, the practice manager and three patients. To assess the quality of care provided we looked at practice policies and protocols and other records relating to the management of the service.

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.

Updated 13 August 2015

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 13 July 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.

West End Apex Dental Centre is situated in the centre of Bradford and provides a range of dental services to NHS and private fee paying adults and children.

The practice has five surgeries, a decontamination room, an X-ray suite, a storage room, a large waiting area, reception area, toilets, the practice manager’s office and a staff room. The reception area is on the ground floor of the building. All the other areas are situated on the first floor of the building.

There are four dentists, one hygienist, six dental nurses, three reception staff, a practice manager and two practice support manager.

The opening hours are Monday to Thursday 8-30am to 5-30pm and Friday 8-30am to 5-00pm.

The practice manager is currently registering to be 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 32 completed CQC comment cards. Patients we spoke with and those who completed comment cards were generally positive about the care they received about the service.

They commented that staff were caring, helpful and respectful, treatment was well explained and the practice was clean and hygienic.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had systems in place to assess and manage risks to patients and staff including infection prevention and control, health and safety and the management of medical emergencies.
• Dental care records were detailed and showed that 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).
• Patients were treated with care, respect and dignity.
• 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:

• Ensure that rubber dam is used for all root canal treatments.
• Ensure that regular checks are completed to ensure that local anaesthetics are not out of date.
• Ensure that all single use materials are disposed of correctly.
• Ensure that a risk assessment is done on the floor in surgery 5 and suitable actions made to prevent accidents and allow thorough cleaning.