Background to this inspection
Updated
18 February 2016
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 10 December 2015 and was conducted by a CQC inspector and a dental specialist advisor.
We informed NHS England area team and Healthwatch that we were inspecting the practice on 29 October 2015; however we did not receive any information of concern from them.
During the inspection we spoke with one dentist, two dental nurses and the practice group manager. We spoke with four patients who were all complimentary about the services they had received.
To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:
These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.
Updated
18 February 2016
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 10 December 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
Chopra and Associates Ashford provides predominately NHS dental services with private treatment options available for patients. The practice has three consulting and treatment rooms, two dentists who are supported by four dental nurses. The practice also provides minor oral surgery for its patient population and on referral from other practices in the area. This service is facilitated by a visiting oral surgeon. The practice is managed by a practice group manager with a principal dentist who is the owner, supporting the whole team.
The group manager is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission 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 spoke with nine patients who told us that they were satisfied with the services they had received. All stated their experiences at the practice were excellent, that staff were kind and caring and appointments were readily available both for emergencies and routine visits. They spoke about how their dignity and privacy was maintained at all times and how they were involved in decisions regarding their care and treatment.
Before our inspection we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of using the practice. We collected 8 completed cards. All provided a positive view of the service the practice provides. Patients commented the team were kind, caring, efficient and that they had received excellent care. The majority commented that the practice was very clean and staff were polite.
Our key findings were:
- Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning.
- The practice was visibly clean and well maintained.
- Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current best practice guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and other published guidance.
- The practice had effective safeguarding processes and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
- Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD).
- The practice took into account any comments, concerns or complaints and used these to help them improve the practice.
- Patients were pleased with the care and treatment they received and complimentary about the dentists and all other members of the practice team.