Updated 6 August 2015
We inspected this practice on 30 June 2015. Our inspection team was led by a CQC Lead Inspector who had access to remote advice from a specialist advisor.
We informed organisations such as NHS England area team and Healthwatch that we were inspecting the practice; however we did not receive any information of concern from them. We asked the provider to send us information about their practice and to tell us about the things they did well. We reviewed the information for patients on the practices website.
We spoke with people who used the service, their relatives, interviewed staff working in the practice during the inspection and carried out observations and reviews of documents.
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
Overview of the practice
Black Swan Dental Spa provides private general and cosmetic dentistry to people living in Crewkerne and the surrounding areas. The practice has about 1200 patients from a wide catchment area surrounding Crewkerne. There is easy access into the practice and parking outside and close by. The dental treatment and hygienist rooms are on the first and second floors and there is a separate decontamination room on the first floor as well as a consultation room and radiograph facilities on this level.
The practice has three treatment rooms with five dentists; four dental nurses and three hygienists who work part-time. Two of the dentists provide specialist treatment for people requiring complex dental treatment including dental implants and root canal treatment. The practice is open from 9:00 am until 6:00 pm on Monday, 9:00 am until 6:30 pm on Tuesday, 9:00 am until 7:00 pm on Wednesday, 9:00 am until 5:00 pm on Thursday and Friday. Twice a month on Saturday the practice is open from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm. The practice have their own website as well as Facebook and YouTube pages
The practice manager is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.
Five patients provided feedback about the service during our inspection. The patients spoke very positively about the care and treatment they received and about the caring nature of all the staff in the practice. Patients stated they felt the dentists took a lot of time to explain care and treatment options in a way they understood. Common themes were patients felt they received excellent care and provided personal and compassionate service.