Updated 5 July 2016
Background
Perton Dental Practice is a family practice providing private treatment for adults and NHS treatment for young adults and children under the age of 18 years. The practice is situated on the first floor of a building which provides a suite of rooms suitable for use as a dental practice. The practice is situated off a main road in Perton, a residential area of South East Staffordshire. The dental practice is only accessible via a flight of stairs. This means that it is not easily accessible by people with mobility difficulties, people in wheelchairs and families with prams or pushchairs.
The practice has one dentist who is also the owner of the practice. The dentist is supported by two dental nurses, a dental hygienist and a receptionist. The practice is open from 9am to 6pm Monday to Thursday, Friday 9am to 11pm and Saturday by appointment only. The practice is closed Monday to Friday between the hours of 1pm and 2pm for lunch.
The 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.
As part of our inspection we also asked for Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection. We received 45 comment cards which were all positive. Patients said they received a good service from the practice. Further comments said that the dentist was professional, listened to their needs and staff provided clear explanations with a caring attitude.
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.
The inspection took place on 11 April 2016. It was led by a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspector who was supported by a dental specialist advisor. Before visiting, we reviewed a range of information that we held about the practice. During the inspection, we spoke with the dentist, dental nurses, reception staff, spoke with patients who used the service and reviewed policies, procedures and other documents. We received 45 comment cards which were all positive. Patients we spoke with said they received excellent care, staff were very helpful and friendly at all times.
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.
Our key findings were:
- Staff understood their responsibilities to report and record incidents. All incidents were discussed and used for shared learning.
- The practice was visibly clean and clutter free.
- Patients commented that they were listened to and their proposed treatment was explained to them in a way they understood.
- The practice asked patients for feedback on the services they received.
- Staff were well trained, knowledgeable and attended regular training appropriate to their individual roles.
- The practice had enough staff to deliver the service.
- The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to meet the needs of patients.
- Patients said that they found it easy to make an appointment and information was available on how to make an appointment in an emergency.
- The practice sought feedback from patients and staff about the services provided, which it acted on and feedback from both groups was consistently positive
- Information about the service, which included how to complain, was available and easy to understand.
- There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by the management.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:
- Review the practice’s processes for recording information to be shared with staff which also demonstrates learning and improvements made, giving due regard to current legislation and guidance.
- Review the systems in place for keeping the practice clean and safe giving due regard to the National Patient Safety Agency cleanliness specifications for dental premises.
- Review the provision of hot water at the practice to ensure good hand hygiene practises are carried out giving due regard to the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 related to washing facilities.
- Review staff awareness of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and ensure all staff are aware of their responsibilities under the Act as it relates to their role.
- Review the records that are maintained related to the qualification of people employed giving due regard to Schedule 3 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 to ensure the required specified information in respect of persons employed by the practice is held.