Archived: Mickleover Square Dental Care

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 24 November 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

Mickelover Square Dental Care is situated on the first floor above a parade of shops in Mickelover on the outskirts of Derby. The practice was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in May 2014. The practice provides regulated dental services to patients in the Mickelover area of Derby and the surrounding areas. The practice provides both NHS and private dental treatment, with approximately 90% being private patients. Services provided include general dentistry, dental hygiene, teeth whitening, crowns and bridges, and root canal treatment. The practice is open Mondays to Fridays 9:00 am to 5:30 pm apart from Wednesdays when the opening times are 9:00 am to 7:30 pm. Access for urgent treatment outside of opening hours is by ringing the practice and following the instructions on the recorded message.

The practice has four dentists and eight dental nurses who also work on reception.

The principal dentist is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

We received feedback from 45 patients about the services provided. We saw that most of the feedback was positive, with only one negative comment. This related to the difficulty with sometimes getting an appointment. This person also said that once they had an appointment the treatment was very good, and they had no other problems. Patients said they were extremely happy with the service provided, and spoke positively about their experience at this dentist and with the whole staff team. Patients said they were treated well at the practice, and that staff were friendly and approachable, they were able to ask questions, and the dentist explained the treatment options and costs.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had systems and processes to record accidents, significant events and complaints.
• Learning from any complaints and significant incidents were recorded and learning was shared with staff.
• All staff had received whistle blowing training and were aware of these procedures and the actions required.
• Patients spoke positively about the dental service they received, and several said they were very happy.
• Patients said they were treated with dignity and respect.
• Records showed there were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Staff had been trained to deal with medical emergencies.
• Emergency medicines, an automated external defibrillator (AED) and oxygen were readily available. An AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses life threatening irregularities of the heart and delivers an electrical shock to attempt to restore a normal heart rhythm.
• The practice followed the relevant guidance from the Department of Health's: ‘Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 (HTM 01-05) for infection control.
• Patients’ care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
• Patients were involved in making decisions about their treatment
• Options for treatment were identified and explored and discussed with patients.
• Patients’ confidentiality was maintained.

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

• Review the storage of environmental cleaning equipment and materials to eliminate the risk of cross infection.
• Change all waste bins in clinical areas to a hands free, foot pedal design to reduce the infection control risks.
• Carry out a record keeping audit to address inconsistencies across the practice.

Update the information on the NHS Choices website to ensure patients and prospective patients had access to up-to-date information.