Archived: The Dental Clinic - Reading

Patients received explanations of their treatment which they understood. One patient said 'what I like about my dentist is that he gives you a detailed explanation of what needs to be done. He gives you the opportunity to ask questions'.

Patient's received treatment that took account of their safety and welfare. The dentists and hygienists checked that patients were fit to proceed with treatment before treatment began. A patient told us "the dentist went through a medical questionnaire before he checked my teeth". We saw that the dentists recorded they had checked the health of the patient before they started treatment.

Patients were protected from the risk of infection because appropriate guidance had been followed. We observed a dental nurse carrying out decontamination of dental instruments and cleaning down a surgery room in accordance with Department of Health (DH) guidance.

Appropriate checks were carried out and recorded before staff commenced work at the clinic. We saw that prospective staff supplied full details of their previous jobs and that references were taken up.

There were effective systems, including audits, in operation to assess the quality of service patients received.