Archived: Market Weighton Dental Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 6 October 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

Market Weighton Dental Practice is situated on the high street in Market Weighton. The practice offers private dental treatments including preventative advice.

The practice has two surgeries, a decontamination room, a waiting area, a reception area to welcome patients and patient toilets. All facilities are located on the ground floor of the premises. There are staff facilities and offices on the premises.

There are two dentists, a dental hygienist and three dental nurses (one of which is the practice manager).

The practice is open between the hours of 8:30am and 5pm Monday – Thursday and 8:30am – 1pm Friday.

One of the partners 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.

On the day of inspection we received 45 CQC comment cards providing feedback. The patients who provided feedback were very positive about the care and attention to treatment they received at the practice. They told us they were involved in all aspects of their care and found the staff to be very supportive, caring and friendly in regards to treating children. Patients commented they could access emergency care easily and they were treated with dignity and respect in a clean and tidy environment.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had systems in place to assess and manage risks to patients and staff including infection prevention and control, health and safety and the management of medical emergencies.
• The practice was visibly clean and uncluttered.
• Staff had received safeguarding training, knew how to recognise signs of abuse and how to report it. They had very good systems in place to work closely and share information with the local safeguarding team.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Infection control procedures were in accordance with the published guidelines.
• Oral health advice and treatment were provided in-line with the ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’ toolkit (DBOH).
• Treatment was well planned and provided in line with current best practice guidelines.
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about it.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and confidentiality was maintained.
• The appointment system met patients’ needs.
• The practice was well-led and staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The governance systems were effective and embedded.
• The practice sought feedback from staff and patients about the services they provided.
• There were clearly defined leadership roles within the practice and staff felt supported at all levels.

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

• Review the protocol for completing accurate, complete and detailed records relating to employment of staff. This includes making appropriate notes of verbal reference taken and ensuring recruitment checks, including DBS checks are suitably obtained and recorded.
• Review the practice’s arrangements for receiving and responding to patient safety alerts, recalls and rapid response reports issued from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and through the Central Alerting System (CAS), as well as from other relevant bodies such as, Public Health England (PHE).
• Review its audit protocols to document learning points that are shared with all relevant staff and ensure that the resulting improvements can be demonstrated as part of the audit process.