Archived: Woodingdean Dental Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 30 June 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 not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Woodingdean Dental Practice is a general dental practice in Woodingdean, East Sussex offering NHS and private dental treatment to adults and children. The practice also offers domiciliary care to patients in their own homes and to residents at a local nursing home.

The premises consists of a waiting area adjacent to the reception desk and two treatment rooms (one of which is currently decommissioned). There is also a separate decontamination room.

The staff at the practice consist of the provider (a dentist), a trainee dental nurse, two part time receptionists and a part time administrator who is a practice manager at another practice.

Our key findings were:

• There were effective systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection. We found the treatment room, decontamination room and equipment appeared very clean.

• There were systems in place to check all equipment had been serviced regularly, including the suction compressor, autoclave, fire extinguishers, oxygen cylinder and the X-ray equipment.

• Staff demonstrated knowledge of the practice whistleblowing policy and were confident they would raise a concern about another staff member’s performance if it was necessary.

• The practice ensured staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.

• At our visit we observed staff were kind, caring and put patients at their ease.

• We reviewed 38 comment cards that had been completed by patients. Common themes were patients felt they received very good service from a helpful and friendly practice team in a clean environment.

• There was an effective system in place to act on feedback received from patients and staff.

• Patients’ dental care records we reviewed did not provide a full and accurate account of the care and treatment they had received.

We identified regulations that were not being met and the provider must:

• Maintain an accurate, complete and contemporaneous record in respect of each patient, including a record of the care and treatment provided to the patient and of decisions taken in relation to the care and treatment provided.

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

• Review the guidance issued by the Faculty of General Practice (FGDP) namely ‘Selection Criteria for dental Radiography’ in considering when to take dental X-rays.