Archived: Buttercross Dental Practice

We carried out this visit because our visit in February 2013 identified that the practice was not carrying out all the processes required by Department of Health (DoH) guidance for decontamination of dental practices. A machine used for cleaning dental instruments had not been tested in accordance with DoH guidance, audits of control of infection processes had not been carried out, staff were not wearing all protective equipment when sterilising instruments and soap was not available for staff to wash their hands before they started cleaning dental instruments.

We looked at the facilities for decontamination of instruments, reviewed practice records and observed a dental nurse cleaning a surgery room and decontaminating dental instruments. The records we reviewed and processes we saw showed significant improvement.

The practice had introduced processes and procedures that met DoH guidance. Patients were protected from the risk of infection because appropriate guidance had been followed.

We found that patient records were maintained confidentially and were a full and accurate record of treatment that had taken place. We saw evidence that the staff were trained in information governance and had a good understanding of confidentiality.

We observed that the practice was very clean and that many decontamination procedures were being carried out in line with HTM 01-05 but there were omissions which an audit would have highlighted.

We found the staff to be well trained and the principal dentist to have a good understanding of current guidelines.

The staff hold current training in resuscitation procedures and the practice holds equipment to safely deal with any medical emergency situations which may arise.