Archived: The Ropewalk Dental and Implant Suite

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 10 May 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

The Ropewalk is a small dental practice close to the centre of Nottingham. The practice is located on the ground floor, with one treatment room. The practice was first registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in June 2011. The practice provides regulated dental services to both adults and children. The practice only provides private dental treatment. Services provided include general dentistry, dental hygiene, crowns and bridges, and root canal treatment.

The practice’s opening hours are - Monday and Tuesday: 9am to 5pm; Wednesday: 9am to 1pm; Thursday: 9am to 5pm; Friday 9am to 1pm.

Access for urgent treatment outside of opening hours is by telephoning the practice and following the instructions on the answerphone message. Alternatively the Nottingham Emergency Dental Service offers a back-up when the dentist is unavailable through annual leave for example.

The 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 practice has one dentist; two qualified dental nurses one of whom works on reception.

We received positive feedback from 20 patients about the services provided. This was through CQC comment cards left at the practice prior to the inspection and by speaking with patients in the practice.

Our key findings were:

• Feedback from patients provided about their experiences at the practice was positive. Patients said they were treated with dignity and respect.
• The dentist identified the treatment options, and discussed these with patients.
• Patients’ confidentiality was maintained.
• The practice followed the relevant guidance from the Department of Health's: ‘Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 (HTM 01-05) for infection control with regard to cleaning and sterilizing dental instruments.
• There was a whistleblowing policy accessible to all staff, who were aware of procedures to follow if they had any concerns.
• The practice had the necessary equipment for staff to deal with medical emergencies, and staff had been trained how to use that equipment. This included an automated external defibrillator, oxygen and emergency medicines.

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

• Review the practice system for staff appraisals to ensure there is documentary evidence that staff development and performance reviews had been completed.
• Review the availability of equipment to manage medical emergencies giving due regard to guidelines issued by the Resuscitation Council (UK), and the General Dental Council (GDC) standards for the dental team.