Archived: The Dental Practice at Dronfield Woodhouse

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 8 September 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

The Dental Practice at Dronfield Woodhouse was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in December 2013 to provide dental services to patients in Dronfield Woodhouse and the surrounding areas. The practice provides private dental treatment. Services provided include general dentistry, dental hygiene, teeth whitening, crowns and bridges, root canal treatment and conscious sedation. The practice is situated in a building in Dronfield Woodhouse in north Derbyshire. All of the clinical and treatment rooms are located on the ground floor. The practice is open 09:00 am to 1:00 pm & 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Mondays; 09:00 am to 1:00 pm & 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; 09:00 am to 12:30 pm & 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm on Fridays.

Access for urgent treatment outside of opening hours is usually through the emergency dental NHS direct telephone line.

The practice has two dentists, two dental hygienists/ therapists, and two dental nurses. There is a practice manager, a receptionist and a cleaner.

The principal dentist 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 received feedback from 57 patients about the services provided. Feedback was wholly positive. Several patients said they had been coming to the practice for over 20 years. All of the feedback identified patients were extremely happy with the dental service provided.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had systems for recording accidents, significant events and complaints.
• Learning from any complaints and significant incidents were recorded and learning was shared at staff meetings.
• The dental practice was located on the ground floor and allowed easy access to patients with restricted mobility.
• The practice was visibly clean.
• The practice had provided training in safeguarding and whistle blowing for all staff, and staff were aware of these procedures and the actions required.
• Patients said they were very satisfied with the service they received.
• Patients said they were treated with dignity and respect, our observations confirmed this.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Staff had been trained to deal with medical emergencies.
• Emergency medicines and oxygen were readily available.
• The practice was carrying out sedation services for nervous patients using nitrous oxide (laughing gas).
• Following the inspection the practice purchased an automated external defibrillator (AED). An AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses life threatening irregularities of the heart and delivers an electrical shock to attempt to restore a normal heart rhythm.
• The principal dentist was contacting patients after their treatment to ensure they had no on going issues with pain or discomfort, and to offer reassurance. Thereby demonstrating a caring and compassionate approach.
• The practice followed the relevant guidance (Department of Health's guidance, ‘Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 (HTM 01-05) for infection control.
• Patients’ care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
• Patients were involved in making decisions about their treatment, and options were identified and explored with them.
• Patients’ confidentiality was maintained.

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

• Check staff personnel files to be assured they are up-to-date with all required information.
• Introduce weekly testing of the ultrasonic cleaner, with records demonstrating the tests had been completed.
• Consider staff training for all staff involved in the operation of X-ray machines.
• Review patients’ notes when consent is an issue, so that the patient’s notes fully identify the discussion and decision making process.
• Introduce a system for producing an action plan when patient surveys are analysed, and there are areas where a score of less than 100% is recorded, or there are negative comments.