Sherwood Dental Centre

Updated 17 December 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the practice was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

We carried out an announced, comprehensive inspection on 11 November October 2015. The inspection team consisted of two Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors and a dental specialist advisor. Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the provider together with information that we asked them to send to us in advance of the inspection. During our inspection visit, we reviewed a range of policies and procedures and other documents including dental care records. We spoke with seven members of staff, including members of the management team.

Prior to the inspection we asked the practice to send us information which we reviewed. This included the complaints they had received in the last 12 months, their latest statement of purpose, the details of the staff members, their qualifications and proof of registration with their professional bodies.

We also reviewed the information we held about the practice and found there were no areas of concern.

During the inspection we spoke with two dentists, the practice manager, two dental nurses and two receptionists. We reviewed policies, procedures and other documents. We received feedback about the dental service from 25 patients.

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 17 December 2015

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 11 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

Sherwood Dental Centre was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 4 September 2015. This was following a change in the ownership arrangements at the practice. Sherwood Dental Centre is registered to provide regulated dental services to patients in north Nottingham and the surrounding areas. The practice provides both NHS and private dental treatment, with the most being NHS. Services provided include general dentistry, dental hygiene, crowns and bridges, and root canal treatment.

The practice is open: Monday to Wednesday: from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm; Thursday: from 8:30 am to 7:00 pm; and Friday 8:30 am to 4:00 pm.

Access for urgent treatment outside of opening hours is through the NHS 111 telephone line.

The practice has four dentists; two dental hygienists; and five dental nurses, one of whom was a trainee dental nurse. There is a practice manager, three receptionists, and an administration assistant.

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 25 patients about the services provided. We saw that most of the feedback was positive, with only two negative comments. These related to the difficulty to access the practice with a pushchair, and a patient’s dissatisfaction with the methods of payment available. All patients said they were happy with the service provided, and spoke positively about their clinical experience at this dental practice.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had effective systems 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 provided positive feedback about the dental service.
• 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, and were able to ask questions.
• 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:

• Make arrangements for the legionella risk assessment to be repeated.
• Check the X-ray machines in the practice to see if rectangular collimation is fitted, as recommended by the Ionising Radiation Regulations (Medical Exposure) Regulations (2000).
• Make arrangements to display the instructions beside the sharps bins, as recommended in the Health and safety (sharp instruments in healthcare) regulations 2013.