Longford Dental Centre - Maidstone

Updated 12 November 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the practice was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by the CQC.

The inspection was carried out on 14 April 2015 by a CQC inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed information that we held about the provider and information that we asked them to send us in advance of the inspection. This included their statement of purpose and a record of complaints and how they dealt with them.

During the inspection we spoke with two dentists, two dental nurses, one receptionist and the registered manager. We looked around the premises and the treatment rooms. We reviewed a range of policies and procedures and other documents including dental care records.

We viewed the comments made by patients on the comment cards provided by CQC before the inspection.

We informed the local NHS England area team that we were inspecting the practice and did not receive any information of concern from them.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 12 November 2015

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Longford Dental Centre on 14 April 2015.

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found this practice was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

The practice provides NHS dental treatment and private dental treatment.

The practice has three dental treatment rooms and a decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing of dental instruments. The treatment rooms, reception area and waiting room are on the ground floor.

The practice has a full time practice manager who is supported by the principal dentist who is registered with the Care Quality Commission as the registered manager. They are legally responsible for making sure the practice meets the regulations from the Health and Social Care Act 2008 relating to the quality and safety of care.

The practice has three dentists, and three dental nurses. The practice manager and clinical team are supported by two receptionists.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to use to tell us about their experience of the practice. We collected twenty nine completed cards. These provided a positive view of the service the practice provides. Patients told us that the care and treatment they received was caring, patient and thorough. They praised the skills of the clinical staff and the professionalism of the whole practice team.

Our key findings were:

• Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning.
• The practice was visibly clean and well maintained.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current best practice guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and other published guidance.
• The practice had effective safeguarding processes and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD).
• The practice took into account any comments, concerns or complaints and used these to help them improve the practice.

Patients were pleased with the care and treatment they received and complimentary about the dentists and all other members of the practice team.