Otley Dental Centre

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 15 August 2016 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

The practice provides mainly private treatment with some NHS treatment to patients of all ages in the Otley area and beyond.

The dental practice has four treatment rooms based on the ground and first floor. There is a ground floor waiting area and reception area, a decontamination room, staff room/kitchen and office area. There are accessible toilet facilities on the ground floor of the premises. There is public parking nearby and off street parking available outside the dentist practice.

The practice has five dentists, one dental hygienist, five dental nurses, a practice manager and two receptionists.

The practice is open Monday 8:30am to 7pm, Tuesday to Friday 8:30am to 5:30pm and has recently introduced Saturday opening 8:30am-2pm.

The principal dentist is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual. 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.

Before the inspection we sent CQC comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We received feedback from 50 patients which all gave positive comments about the care and treatment received at the practice. They told us they could access emergency care easily and staff were sensitive to their needs and were particularly good if they were nervous or anxious about treatment.

Our key findings were:

• Patients confirmed that the premises were clean and hygienic.
• Staff had received safeguarding training, knew how to recognise signs of abuse and how to report it. They had very good systems in place to work closely and share information with the local safeguarding team.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Staff were qualified and had received training appropriate to their roles.
• Treatment was provided in line with current best practice guidelines including the Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
• Oral health advice and treatment were provided in-line with the ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’ toolkit (DBOH).
• The practice had systems to assess and manage risks to patients, including infection prevention and control and health and safety.
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about it.
• We observed that patients were treated with kindness and respect by staff. Staff ensured there was sufficient time to explain fully the care and treatment they were providing in a way patients understood.
• Patients were able to make routine and emergency appointments when needed.
• The practice had a complaints system in place and there was an openness and transparency in how these were dealt with.
• There were clearly defined leadership roles within the practice and staff told us that they felt supported and comfortable to raise concerns or make suggestions.

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

• Review the management of prescription pads held at the practice and ensure there are systems in place to monitor and track their use.