We visited the practice with a specialist advisor who had experience in infection prevention and control. We found that there was appropriate infection control policies available which supported the systems and process in place at the practice
A receptionist showed us the system which had been introduced to ensure the dentists had up to date medical history for each patient prior to treatment commencing.
practice manager.
The practice consisted of a reception/waiting area, two treatment rooms a decontamination room, and accessible toilet facilities all on the ground floor. The practice was able to support people with mobility issues into the practice due to its ground floor entrance off the street which met with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).
We found that consent was being sought before people had treatment, but this was not being recorded appropriately. One person said, "My verbal consent is given".
People told us that the treatment they received was what they expected. We found there was no evidence to substantiate that people were being required to completed medical history questionnaire regularly. One person said, "Since registering with the practice five years ago, I have not had my medical history checked".
We found that instruments were not always visually clean. This meant that people could potential be at risk of cross infection from contaminated instruments.
The provider had a system in place to ensure only suitable staff were employed.
The provider had a system in place to enable people to share their views and concerns.