Archived: Ashbury Dental Care

Updated 12 November 2015

We carried out an announced inspection on 23 July 2015. This inspection was led by a CQC Inspector and a dental specialist advisor.

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.

We informed the NHS England area team that we were inspecting the practice; however we did not receive any information of concern from them. The practice sent us their statement of purpose and a summary of complaints they had received in the last 12 months. We also reviewed further information on the day of the inspection.

We spoke with four patients who used the service on the day of our inspection. We reviewed 21 Care Quality Commission comment cards that had been completed by patients prior to the inspection. We also spoke with five members of staff, including the principal dentist. We reviewed the policies, toured the premises and examined the cleaning and sterilisation of dental equipment.

Updated 12 November 2015

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Ashbury Dental Care on 23 July 2015 to ask the practice the following five 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

The practice is an independent private practice which provides general and specialist dental treatment for approximately 3,000 patients.

The staff structure of the practice consists of four dentists (all of which are male), one clinical dental technician, two dental nurses, two hygienists one of whom was also a dental therapist, and three receptionists. The practice is open from 8am to 8pm two days a week and 8am to 5.30pm three days a week. The practice is also open on a Saturday morning. Outside of these hours the practice provides emergency cover and has a mutual arrangement with another nearby practice to provide support.

We spoke with four patients who used the service on the day of our inspection and reviewed 21 Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards that had been completed by patients prior to the inspection. The patients we spoke with were complimentary about the service. They told us they found the staff to be friendly and informative. They felt they were treated with respect. The comments on the CQC comment cards were also very complimentary about the staff and the service provided. During the inspection we spoke with five members of staff, including the principal dentist.

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.