Archived: The Essex Dental Clinic

Updated 17 July 2017

The Essex Dental Clinic is situated on the Earls Colne Business Park on the outskirts of Earls Colne and provides NHS and private treatment to patients of all ages.

There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and pushchairs. The practice is on the ground floor so can accommodate patients with restricted mobility. Car parking spaces, including two for patients with disabled badges, are available in front of the practice.

The dental team includes four dentists, five dental nurses, one practice manager, one dental hygienist, one dental therapist and two receptionists. The practice has four treatment rooms.

The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist there. They have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run.

On the day of inspection we collected 39 CQC comment cards filled in by patients and spoke with one other patients. This information gave us a positive view of the practice.

During the inspection we spoke with two dentists including the principal dentist, two dental nurses, two receptionists and the practice manager. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open: Monday, Thursday and Friday 8am to 5.30pm, Tuesday and Wednesday 8am to 7.30pm and alternate Saturdays 9am to 12.30pm.

Updated 17 July 2017

We carried out this announced inspection on 9 June 2017 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We planned the inspection to check whether the registered provider was meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations. The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.

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 form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.

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.

Our key findings were:

• We found that the practice ethos was to provide high quality patient dental care in a relaxed and friendly environment.
• The practice was clean and well maintained.
• The practice had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with medical emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The practice had systems to help them manage risk.
• The practice had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The practice had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
• Conscious sedation was carried out in accordance with current guidelines.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• The appointment system met patients’ needs.
• The practice had effective leadership. Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The practice asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The practice dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
• Information we obtained from all the 39 Care Quality Commission cards provided positive feedback.

We identified areas of notable practice;

• The practice had a population approach to oral health promotion and preventative care to all people in the community. This ranged from school visits, open days with tours of the clinic and oral hygiene demonstrations and monthly newsletters giving the latest health, practice and local community information for patients. In particular we heard from people of how this learning had impacted on young patients and led to improvements in their knowledge, understanding and confidence when attending the dental surgery.