Archived: Hest Bank Dental Centre

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Hest Bank Dental Centre on 28 April 2015. Hest Bank Dental Centre is a general dental practice in Hest Bank Lancaster offering both private and NHS and treatment. The practice treats adults and children.

The premises consist of a reception area and four treatment rooms, two of which were on the ground floor and two on a first floor which was accessible via a staircase. A patient waiting room was situated on the first floor. Patients with special mobility requirements were treated on the lower ground floor which has full wheelchair access. Patient facilities were available on both floors and had easy access. There is also a separate decontamination room which lead into a staff area. Due to the location and local population, the practice also included a post office provision which was located in the staff area which opened to the public on a part time basis.

The practice provides dental services to approx.10,000 patients who are predominantly the older population group. The practice was founded by the practice owner and the principle dentist The staff structure of the practice consists of two further dentists, a practice manager (who is also a qualified dental nurse), a receptionist and eight dental nurses. The practice also employs a dental hygienist and a dental therapist who carries out preventative advice and treatment. The practice opening times provided later appointments till 7.30pm Monday and Thursday, and Saturdays 8.30am till 12.00pm.

The practice owner 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 spoke with seven patients on the day of our inspection and reviewed 36 comment cards that had been completed by patients which reflected very positive views about the care and treatment they had received. Patients felt the dentists took a lot of time to explain care and treatment options in a way they understood. Common themes were patients felt they received excellent care and provided personal and compassionate service.

Our key findings were:

We found that this practice was providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

• There were effective systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection. We found all treatment rooms 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.

• We found the dentists regularly assessed each patient’s gum health and took X-rays at appropriate intervals.

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

• The practice kept up to date with current guidelines and was led by a proactive and forward thinking management team.

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

We reviewed 36 comment cards that had been completed by patients. Common themes were patients felt they received professional, caring and compassionate care in a very friendly and clean environment.