Archived: Belle Vue Dental Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 26 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

Belle Vue Dental Practice is in a residential area of Skipton, close to the railway station. There are two ground floor surgeries and two first floor surgeries. There is one reception area and two waiting rooms, one on each floor.

There are two dentists, one dental hygienist, one dental hygiene therapist, four dental nurses (one of which is a trainee), two receptionists and a practice manager.

The practice offers a mix of NHS and private dental treatments including preventative advice, routine restorative dental care, dental implants and endodontic treatments. The practice also accepts referrals from other practices.

The practice is open:

Monday and Friday 08:30– 16:30

Tuesday and Wednesday 08:30– 17:30

Thursday 08:30 – 12:30

The practice owner is 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.

On the day of inspection we received 50 CQC comment cards providing feedback and spoke to three patients. The patients who provided feedback were very positive about the care and attention to treatment they received at the practice. They told us they were involved in all aspects of their care and found the staff to be caring, friendly, organised, fantastic and marvellous and they were treated with dignity and respect in a clean and tidy environment.

Our key findings were:

• Staff had received safeguarding training, knew how to recognise signs of abuse and how to report it.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Staff had been trained to manage medical emergencies.
• Infection control procedures were in accordance with the published guidelines.
• Patient care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines, best practice and current regulations.
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about it.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and confidentiality was maintained.
• The appointment system met patients’ needs.
• There was a complaints system in place. Staff recorded complaints and cascaded learning to staff.
• The governance systems were effective.
• The practice sought feedback from staff and patients about the services they provided.

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

• Review where the practice complaints policy is displayed so patients can access the information easily.
• Check all audits have learning points documented and resulting improvements can be demonstrated.