The Faversham Dental Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 23 March 2016 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

There are two providers of dental services operating from the premises. They are:

Ms. Christine Lupin who is responsible for The Faversham Dental Practice

and

Dr. Richard Linton who is responsible for Faversham Dental Practice.

Each provider is a sole practitioner.

The two providers have shared staff, policies, processes, equipment and accommodation. We inspected both providers at the same time. There is a separate report for each provider.

The Faversham Dental Practice is a mixed dental practice providing both NHS and private treatment. The practice caters for children and adults and is situated in the town centre.

The practice provides services on two levels and has three treatment rooms, one of which is unused as it is awaiting refurbishment There is a decontamination room, a reception and a waiting area. The surgery is up a steep flight of stairs and is unsuitable for wheelchair users.

The provider is the registered person. A registered person is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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 Faversham Dental Practice has one dentist and one dental hygienist who provids preventative advice and treatments on prescription from the dentist. The dentist and hygienist are supported by two dental nurses, and a receptionist.

Before our inspection we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of using the practice. We collected 22 cards that referred to The Faversham Dental Practice and 42 cards that referred generically to “the practice”. All were positive about the service the practice provides.

Patients commented that the staff at The Faversham Dental Practice were kind, gentle and caring. They were efficient and friendly. Patients liked the fact that there was very good continuity of care and little staff turnover

There were 42 comment cards that referred to the practice generically. Excellence was a theme that ran through them. Many patients remarked on the high quality of the treatment provided. Patients commented on the cleanliness of the establishment. We talked with two patients whose comments supported this.

Our key findings were:

• Staff were aware of the need to report incidents and there were policies to help ensure that any incidents would be used for shared learning and improvement
• The practice was visibly clean and well maintained
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with current guidance.
• The practice had effective safeguarding processes and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The practice placed an emphasis on the promotion of good oral health and provided regular oral health advice to patients.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their role and were supported in their continued professional development.
• Information from the completed comment cards gave us a positive picture of a friendly, caring and professional service.
• The practice took into account and comments, suggestions and patient survey results and used these to make improvements to the service.
• Staff were well supported and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.