Tender Dental Care

Updated 17 February 2017

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 16 January 2017and was undertaken by a CQC inspector and a dental specialist advisor. Prior to the inspection we reviewed information submitted by the provider.

The methods used to carry out this inspection included speaking with the principal dentist, and dental nurse/receptionist on the day of the inspection, reviewing documents, completed patient feedback forms and observations.

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 therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 17 February 2017

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 16 January 2017 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

Tender Dental Care located in Clacton On Sea provides private dental treatment to patients of all ages.

Practice staffing consists of the principal dentist and one dental nurse/receptionist.

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.

The practice is open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm

The practice facilities include one treatment room, a reception and waiting area, a decontamination room and a staff room/kitchen.

55 patients provided feedback about the service. Patients who completed comment cards were very positive about the care they received from the service. Patients told us that they were happy with the treatment and advice they had received.

Our key findings were:

• Staff had received safeguarding children and adults training and knew the processes to follow to raise any concerns. The practice had whistleblowing policies and procedure and staff were aware of these and their responsibilities to report any concerns.
• The practice had a procedure for handling and responding to complaints, which were displayed and available to patients.
• Staff had been trained to handle medical emergencies, and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were readily available.
• There were systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection. Dental instruments were cleaned and sterilised in line with current guidance.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and confidentiality was maintained.
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about it.
• Equipment, such as the autoclaves, fire extinguishers, and X-ray equipment had all been checked for effectiveness and had been regularly serviced.
• The practice sought feedback from patients about the services they provided and acted on this to improve its services.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned in line with current guidance such as from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
• Governance systems were effective and there were a range of policies and procedures in place which underpinned the management of the practice. However infection control audits were not being carried out to monitor the quality of services.

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

• Review audit protocols to ensure infection control audits are undertaken at regular intervals and where applicable learning points are documented and shared with all relevant staff.