Updated 2 August 2017
Background
St. Anne's House Dental Practice is located in Cookham, Maidenhead and provides mainly private treatment to patients of all ages. The premises are on the lower ground, ground and first floor and consist of four treatment rooms, a decontamination room, an X-ray room and a reception area. The practice is open on Monday and Tuesday 8:00am – 8:00pm, Wednesday and Thursday 8:00am – 5:30pm, Friday 8:00am – 2:30pm and one Saturday per month 9:00 – 1:00pm.
The dental team includes the principal dentist, four associate dentists, three dental nurses, three dental hygienists, a treatment co-ordinator, two receptionists and the practice manager.
The practice is owned by an individual who is the principal dentist there. They have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run.
On the day of inspection we collected 43 CQC comment cards filled in by patients and reviewed results of the practice patient satisfaction survey. This information gave us a positive view of the practice.
During the inspection we spoke with the principal dentist, an associate dentist, two dental nurses, a dental hygienist and the treatment co-ordinator. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.
Our key findings were:
- The practice was clean and well maintained.
- The practice had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
- The practice had effective safeguarding processes in place and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and child protection.
- Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned in line with current guidance such as from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
- We found the dentists regularly assessed each patient’s gum health and took X-rays at appropriate intervals.
- Patients were involved in their care and treatment planning so they could make informed decisions.
- The practice had systems to help them manage risk.
- The practice had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
- Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
- The appointment system met patients’ needs.
- The practice had effective leadership. Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
- The practice asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
- The practice dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:
- Review the practice’s arrangements for receiving, reviewing and responding to patient safety alerts, recalls and rapid response reports issued from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and through the Central Alerting System (CAS), as well as from other relevant bodies such as, Public Health England (PHE).
- Review availability of medicines 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.
- Review the practice’s protocols for conscious sedation, giving due regard to 2015 guidelines published by The Intercollegiate Advisory Committee on Sedation in Dentistry in the document 'Standards for Conscious Sedation in the Provision of Dental Care 2015.
- Review the practice’s audit protocols to ensure audits of various aspects of the service, such as radiography are undertaken at regular intervals to help improve the quality of service.