The Care Quality Commission

Archived: Queen Street Dental Practice

128 Queen Street, Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 7QF

Provided and run by:
The Queen Street Dental Practice Partnership

Important: The partners registered to provide this service have changed. See new profile

All Inspections

20 November 2013

During a routine inspection

We were able to speak with three people who were in the waiting room when we visited. They confirmed that the dentist and the dental nurses always explained what they were going to do. We saw staff speaking with people in a respectful manner. All of the people we spoke with told us that they were "very happy" with the level of information they had received. One person told us, "The staff are very good at explaining, the information discussed is always very clear and all staff give a full explanation of treatment options.' On the NHS choices website a patient had recorded, 'Always an excellent surgery.'

Two of the people we spoke with confirmed that the dentist always checked their medical history at the start of any treatment plans. We saw that the practice had appropriate equipment to support people in the event of a medical emergency. On a tour of the premises we saw there was suitable equipment available which the dentists would need to provide dental treatments.

The practice was compliant with the essential quality requirements of Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices (HTM01-05). However, we found that 'high level' cleaning, for example the top of door frames and self-closures, had not been cleaned and were very dusty. Cleaning schedules and record logs were not available for the cleaner.

We found that staff received appropriate professional development and were able to obtain further qualifications. We found that each staff member had access to a training and development programme. However on review of these plans there was no training recorded for 2013. One member of staff told us, 'If there was anything I was unhappy with I would go straight to the manager or the dentist. The manager is very approachable and always willing to help.'

We found that the practice did not have an effective system in place which enabled them to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.