Merseyside Dental Centre

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

We found this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations and had taken into consideration appropriate guidance.

Find out what we look at when we assess this area in our information about our new Single assessment framework.

The judgement for Assessing needs is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Effective key question.

Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles. The provider had systems to ensure that people who used the service received person-centred care and treatment that was appropriate, met their needs and was reflective of their personal preferences. The dentists confirmed, where applicable, they referred patients to a range of specialists in primary and secondary care for treatment the practice did not provide. Staff told us how they kept up to date with current evidence-based practice. The practice provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health. Staff were aware of national oral health campaigns and local schemes which supported patients to live healthier lives. The group had recently launched an initiative to ensure every practice engaged with local primary schools to provide oral health education. Staff felt the practice supported them to develop and enabled them to take on lead roles and responsibilities. Staff worked together and with other health and social care professionals to deliver effective care and treatment. Staff demonstrated their understanding of the need to obtain patients’ consent to care and treatment in line with legislation and guidance. They understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff described how they involved patients’ relatives or carers when appropriate and made sure they had enough time to explain treatment options clearly. Staff worked together and with other health and social care professionals to deliver effective care and treatment. The practice had systems for referring patients with suspected cancer under the national two-week wait arrangements. The practice had systems to keep dental professionals up to date with current evidence-based practice. We discussed some of the clinicians should refer to recognised guidance in relation to carrying out basic periodontal examinations.

The practice had systems for the safe handling and prescribing of medicines. NHS prescription pads were kept securely, and a log was in place to monitor and track their use. The practice offered dental implants. Staff obtained full consent and had access to the appropriate equipment for the placement of implants. Improvements should be made to ensure the practice was able to consistently access the records relating to any CBCT scans undertaken as part of the dental implant treatment. The practice should take action to ensure the clinicians take into account the guidance provided by the College of General Dentistry when completing dental care records. We looked at a selection of patient care records. Information recorded in the dental care records did not consistently meet the minimum recommended requirements. We noted that improvements should be made to ensure all important information; including, basic periodontal examination (BPE) scores and risk assessments, were recorded consistently and accurately. We also noted the practice should reinforce with clinical staff the importance of ensuring any templates used are appropriately adjusted to accurately reflect the appointment. The practice should take action to ensure clinicians record in the patients’ dental care records or elsewhere the reason for taking X-rays, a report on the findings and the quality of the image in compliance with Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2017 and taking into account the guidance for Dental Practitioners on the Safe Use of X-ray Equipment or HPA-CRCE-010 Guidance on the Safe Use of Dental Cone Beam (Computed Tomography). From the records we were shown, we noted the dentists did not consistently ensure the radiographs they took were justified, graded and reported. We discussed this with the senior leaders who assured us this would be reviewed and an action plan formulated.

The judgement for How staff, teams and services work together is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Effective key question.

The judgement for Supporting people to live healthier lives is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Effective key question.

The judgement for Monitoring and improving outcomes is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Effective key question.

The judgement for Consent to care and treatment is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Effective key question.