Start-Smiling

Updated 9 July 2015

The inspection took place on 12 May 2015 and was conducted by a CQC inspector.

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.

Prior to the inspection we asked the practice to send us some information which we reviewed. This included their latest statement of purpose, the details of their staff members, their qualifications and proof of registration with their professional bodies.

We also reviewed the information we held about the practice and consulted with other stakeholders, such as NHS England area team / Healthwatch; we did not receive any information from them.

During the inspection we spoke with two dentists, the practice manager, a hygienist, one dental nurse and one receptionist. We reviewed policies, procedures and other documents. We also spoke with two patients. Comment cards had been made available to patients prior to the inspection; we reviewed 23 completed comment cards.

Updated 9 July 2015

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 12 May 2015.

Start Smiling provides private, general dental services to patients of all ages. The team at the practice included two dentists, and a practice manager who supports the registered manager to deliver the practice’s administration and clinical governance systems. There are also four dental nurses, all working on a part-time basis on a rota. There are two hygienists and two receptionists at the practice. The practice is open Monday 9.00am to 7.00pm, Tuesday to Thursday 9.00am to 6.00pm and Friday 09.00am to 1.00pm.

The practice is housed in a converted residential property and is spread across two floors. There are three treatment rooms. The reception and waiting area are on the ground floor along with a dedicated decontamination room and patient toilet. The practice is accessible to patients with restricted mobility as treatment can be carried out in the ground floor treatment room.

One of the dentists 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.

During our inspection we spoke with two patients and reviewed 23 comments cards, which patients had completed in the week before our visit. All patients commented positively about the care and treatment they had received and the friendly, polite and professional staff. A number of patients commented on the discussions they had with the dentist about their care and treatment and how they felt listened to and were made to feel relaxed.

We found that this practice was providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Our key findings were:

• The practice provided a clean well equipped environment.
• Where mistakes had been made patients were notified about the outcome of any investigation and given a suitable apology.
• There was promotion of patient education to ensure good oral health.
• The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.
• The practice had an accessible and visible leadership team. Staff on duty told us they felt supported by the leadership team.
• Governance systems were effective and there was a range of clinical and non-clinical audits to monitor the quality of services.

The practice sought feedback from staff and patients about the services they provided.