9 November 2012
During a routine inspection
Abbey Dental Practice provides a service to approximately 30,000 patients. At the time of our visit there were seven dentists. The practice has nine treatment rooms set over two floors. There is one treatment room on the ground floor. The driveway entrance to the practice is sloped downwards and there are two steps leading up to the front door. It has not been possible to adapt the building for level access or wheelchair usage. This means that people with limited mobility are normally referred to a sister practice nearby.
We spoke with patients during this visit who were attending for treatment. The feedback was positive. One patient said 'The staff are absolutely wonderful, always polite and courteous'. We saw that patients were actively involved in making decisions about their treatment. We saw the practice was very clean. A patient told us it was 'Always spotless. I'm very happy with the cleanliness'.
Patients who had provided online feedback about the practice at the NHS Choices website were very satisfied. One patient said 'Fabulous service. Made me feel more relaxed about having to visit the dentist".
We saw that appropriate emergency equipment was present and that accurate record keeping was in place.