Archived: Watlington Dental Centre

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 31 January 2017 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

Watlington Dental Centre is a small dental practice offering private dental treatment to adults and children. The practice offers a NHS dental treatment to children. Watlington is a market town in Oxfordshire. The practice provides primary dental care services for people who require dental procedures. There are four dental surgeries situated on the ground floor. There is level access from the street. Approximately 3,000 patients are registered at the practice. The majority of patients are adults.

The staff structure of the practice consists of three dentists, one dental hygienist, one dental nurse, one dental nurse/receptionist, one trainee dental nurse and two receptionists.

The practice is open on Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm with extended opening hours on Wednesdays until 6:30pm. The practice will open outside of these hours by arrangement with individual patients. There was an answer phone message directing patients to emergency contact numbers when the practice is closed.

The principal dentist is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an individual. 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.

The inspection took place over one day and was carried out by a CQC inspector and specialist dental advisor.

We obtained the feedback of four patients on the day of our inspection and 13 who completed comment cards. All patients and comment cards were positive about the care they received from the practice. They were complimentary about the friendly, professional and caring attitude of the dental staff and the dental treatment they had received.

Our key findings were:

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned in line with current guidance such as from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
• There were effective systems in place to reduce and minimise the risk and spread of infection.
• There was a lead staff member for safeguarding patients. All staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• Equipment, such as the air compressor, autoclave (steriliser), fire extinguishers, and X-ray equipment had all been checked for effectiveness and had been regularly serviced.
• Patients indicated that they felt they were listened to and that they received good care from the practice team.
• The practice had implemented procedures for managing comments, concerns or complaints.
• Patients could access treatment and urgent and emergency care when required.
• Patients could book appointments up to 12 months in advance.
• The provider had a clear vision for the practice and staff told us they were supported by the practice principal.
• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were readily available in accordance with current guidelines.
• The practice appeared clean and well maintained.
• Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning.
• The service was aware of the needs of the local population and took these into account in how the practice was run.
• Staff received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development by the practice principal.
• Staff we spoke to felt supported by the practice principal and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.

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

• Review the practice's recruitment policy and procedures to ensure background checks for staff are consistently received prior to staff employment.
• Consider devising a system for recording staff training.
• Improve the file containing the practice’s recorded compliance documents for radiation (X-rays).
• Review the location and centralise equipment held for medical emergencies.
• Improve the safeguarding policies to ensure that they contain local authority contact information.

• Review the arrangements for providing the hygienist with the support of an appropriately trained member of the dental team at all times.