Archived: D O'Connor & Associates Dental Surgery

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 27 October 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

D O’Connor & Associates are located in Anerley in the London Borough of Bromley. The practice occupies a house and consists of two treatment rooms, waiting and reception area and patient toilet facilities which are situated on the first floor.

The practice provides NHS dental treatment to children and adults. The practice offers a range of dental treatments such as routine examinations, treatments of dental decay, veneers, crowns and bridges. The practice is open Monday – Friday 10.00am - 5.30pm.

The staff structure consists of a principal dentist, one associate dentist, two dental nurses and a receptionist.

The principal dentist is in day to day management of the practice.

The inspection took place over one day and was carried out by a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspector and a dental specialist advisor.

We received 22 CQC comment cards completed by patients and spoke with 10 patients during our inspection visit. Patients we spoke with, and those who completed comment cards, were positive about the care they received from the practice. They were complimentary about the friendly and caring attitude of the staff.

Our key findings were:

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned in line with current guidance such as from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

• There were effective systems in place to reduce and minimise the risk and spread of infection.

• The practice had effective safeguarding processes in place and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children in vulnerable circumstances.

• Equipment, such as the air compressor, autoclave (steriliser), fire extinguishers, and X-ray equipment had all been checked for effectiveness and had been regularly serviced.

• Patients indicated that they felt they were listened to and that they received good care from a helpful and caring practice team.

• The practice had implemented clear procedures for managing comments, concerns and complaints.

• The principal dentist had a clear vision for the practice.

• There were governance arrangements in place and the audits undertaken were effective in improving the quality and safety of the services;

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

• Review the practice’s sharps procedures giving due regard to the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013.
• Regularly monitor and record water temperatures as part of the Legionella risk assessment  giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Department of Health - Health Technical Memorandum  01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices.
• Review the training, learning and development needs of individual staff members at appropriate intervals and ensure an effective process is established for the on-going assessment, supervision and appraisal of all staff.