Archived: Evergreen Dentistry Ltd

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 2 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

Evergreen Dentistry is located in the Colchester Borough of Stanway. The premises consist of three treatment rooms, two decontamination rooms, and administration and staff rooms, over two floors. There is a spacious waiting area with information leaflets available.

The practice provides private dental services and treats both adults and children. They also offer NHS and private orthodontic service. The practice offers a range of dental services including routine examinations and treatment, veneers, crowns tooth whitening and oral hygiene.

The staff structure of the practice comprised of two principal dentists (who are the owners) and have additional special interests in orthodontics, one general dentist one hygienist and four dental nurses that also cover reception. One of the principal dentists 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 viewed CQC comment cards that had been left for patients to complete, prior to our visit, about the services provided. There were 45 completed comment cards and all of them reflected positive comments about the staff and the services provided. Patients commented that the practice was clean and hygienic, they found it easy to book an appointment and they found the quality of the dentistry to be very good. They said explanations were clear and that the staff were kind, caring and reassuring. Patients also commented about the availability of a dentist when urgent treatment was required.

Our key findings were:

• The practice recorded and analysed significant events and complaints and cascaded learning to staff.
• Where mistakes had been made patients were notified about the outcome of any investigation and given a suitable apology.
• There were effective systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.
• There were systems in place to check all equipment had been serviced regularly.
• Staff had received safeguarding and whistleblowing training and knew the processes to follow to raise any concerns.
• Patient’s care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines, best practice and current legislation.
• The practice ensured staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were readily available.
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about it.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and confidentiality was maintained.
• The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.
• There was an effective complaints system and the practice was open and transparent with patients if a mistake had been made.
• The practice was well-led and staff felt involved and worked as a team.
• Governance systems were effective and there was a range of clinical and non-clinical audits to monitor the quality of services.
• The practice sought feedback from staff and patients about the services they provided.

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

• Document and share their analysis of incidents or near misses. Ensure medication requiring refrigeration storage is stored in a specialist medicine fridge with temperatures being recorded.
• Provide further charting for patients who are graded with a high basic periodontal examination score.
• Review and update staff knowledge and understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA).