Archived: Tawstock Dental Surgery

Following that inspection we asked the provider to send us an action plan detailing how they would make the necessary improvements. The provider sent us an action plan which stated that the service would be meet required standards by 31 March 2014. We carried out an inspection on 15 April 2014 to confirm that the provider had made the improvements described in their action plan.

We spoke with the dentist, a dental nurse and a receptionist. We also spoke with a person who had been treated on the day of our inspection. The person who used the service told us they had been 'very happy' with their treatment. We found that the provider had taken effective action.

Staff had received training in relation to safeguarding and the Mental Capacity Act. We observed effective infection control practices were in place and the provider had put a range of policies in place to support good practice. They had also introduced a more formal patient feedback mechanism.

Overall, we found that the provider was now meeting the required standards in the areas of safeguarding, infection control and quality assurance.

We found people registered at the practice were happy with their treatment and valued the relaxed and friendly atmosphere at the practice. We checked the dentist's practical skills and found people's treatment was appropriate and performed within the dentist's skill set.

The provider did not have internal quality assurance processes sufficiently developed and formalised. This meant quality at the practice was not being effectively assessed and monitored. Patient safeguarding protocols and processes lacked robustness and the management of infection control was patchy. We have asked for the provider to make improvements to these areas to ensure the safety of people registered with the practice.