Archived: Bishops Down Farm Dental Practice

We examined cleanliness and infection control in conjunction with the Department of Health 'Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices' (HTM01-05) in order to see if they had met the compliance action of the last inspection in June 2014.

We found there was evidence the compliance action had been addressed. For example they had ensured the sterilised instruments within the clean area in the treatment room were cleaned and stored in line with the guidance in the HTM01-05. The dentist told us "we have worked very hard to meet the compliance action."

On the day of inspection the dentist and the dental nurse were not at the practice as the dentist was unwell and the dental nurse had been asked to work at another venue. Consequently there were no patients available to ask about the cleanliness at the practice. The only staff member was the receptionist who accompanied us on our inspection of the premises.

We examined cleanliness and infection control in conjunction with the Department of Health 'Health Technical Memorandum 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices' (HTM01-05) in order to see if they had met the compliance action of the last report.

We found there was evidence some elements of the compliance action had been addressed. For example the stained and rusty autoclave had been replaced. However we found additional concerns about the state of the sterilised instruments within the clean area in the treatment room.

During our inspection we spoke with three people attending the practice for appointments. They told us the service was 'pretty good' and said 'I have never had the need to make a complaint, but would if I needed to.' Another person described the practice as 'all good, no problems.'

We saw records which demonstrated people were informed of the options available to them. Signed consent forms confirmed people had agreed to their treatment. People said they were aware of the NHS costs of treatment.

People said they were asked about their medical history at each visit. This ensured the dentist was aware of any changes they needed to know about.

We observed people were welcomed politely and warmly by the receptionist.

The practice had policies and procedures to safeguard children. There was not a policy on safeguarding adults, although staff had an understanding of what constituted potential abuse and the procedures they needed to follow.

People told us they were happy with the standard of cleanliness at the practice. One person commented, 'I have no issues with hygiene here.' We noted regular audits of infection control had not taken place, as recommended in the Department of Health's guidance HTM01-05.

We saw systems were in place to respond to any concerns or complaints raised.