Archived: Madeley Dental Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 14 January 2016 to ask the practice the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

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

Are services effective?

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

Are services caring?

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

Are services responsive?

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

Are services well-led?

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

Background

Madeley Dental Practice is a mixed dental practice providing NHS and private treatment for both adults and children. The practice is situated in a converted domestic property. The practice had 11 dental treatment rooms and a separate decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments. Dental care was provided on two floors and had a reception and waiting area on the ground floor and a waiting area on the first floor.

The practice is open 08.00 -17.30 Monday, Wednesday,Thursday, Friday 08.00 -18.00 Tuesday and Saturdays 09.00 -12.00. The practice has 11 dentists who are supported by 18 dental nurses, two dental therapists a dental hygienist and reception staff.

One of the practice partners 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. The registered manager was supported in their role by two practice managers and two office administrators.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We received feedback from 48 patients. These provided a completely positive view of the services the practice provides. Patients commented on the high quality of care, the caring nature of all staff, the cleanliness of the practice and the overall high quality of customer care.

Our key findings were:

• The practice ethos was to provide high quality patient centred care at all times
• Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines.
• The practice appeared very clean and well maintained.
• Infection control procedures were robust and the practice followed published guidance.
• The practice had dedicated safeguarding leads with effective processes in place for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning.
• Dentists provided dental care in accordance with current professional and National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines
• The practice benefitted from a stable staff base and the two empowered practice managers along with the five partners provided strong effective leadership for the practice.
• The service was aware of the needs of the local population and took these into account in how the practice was run.
• Patients could access treatment and urgent and emergency care when required.
• The practice had dentists who could provide a wide range of more specialised services including orthodontics (the treatment of maligned teeth and jaws) and root canal treatment, there were enough supporting staff to deliver the services on offer.
• Staff recruitment files were well organised and complete.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD).
• Staff we spoke to felt well supported by the practice partners and managers and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.
• Information from 48 completed Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards gave us a completely positive picture of a friendly, caring, professional and high quality service.
• The practice received only seven complaints throughout 2015 which is very low taking into account the size of the practice. All complaints had been effectively managed by the practice managers.