This inspection was carried out by four inspectors on one day. No one knew we would be inspecting as we did not let hospital staff or management know that we were going there beforehand.
During our inspection we spoke with one person using the service and twelve staff. As we were not able to speak with many people during our inspection we spoke with eleven people by phone following our inspection who had recently been treated there. This was so that we could find out their experiences of their care and treatment and their overall views about the service they had received.
Two people told us that waiting times in the walk-in emergency care unit and for an appointment after they had been referred for treatment had been lengthy. The majority of people we spoke with made positive statements about this dental hospital and used the words 'excellent', 'very good', 'brilliant' and 'wonderful' to describe the service that they had received. One person told us 'It was so good I would definitely go there again'. Another person said 'Wonderful service and people'.
The majority of people we spoke with told us that they had been treated with dignity and shown respect. They also told us that they had been given choices and options about their care and treatment. One person told us 'They were all very friendly and polite'.
We found that people had received the care and treatment they had needed. We saw that records detailed the treatments that people had received. Staff we spoke with told us that they felt that the care that they had provided had been of a good standard. All of the people we spoke with told us that they had received the treatment that they needed. One person told us that they had received 'Excellent, understanding treatment'. Another person said 'I am extremely happy with the treatment that I had'.
Two staff told us that although processes were in place for general cleaning they had been worried at times in that the general cleaning in some areas had not been adequate. We looked at three different clinics including the walk-in emergency care unit and one used for restorative dentistry and saw that the general cleanliness was in need of some improvement. In one area where sterilisation had taken place we saw that there was a build up of dust. We also saw that there was no sterilisation date on the packets of two instruments that could be used for undertaking treatments. We observed a practice that did not comply with infection prevention guidance.
The majority of people we spoke with were complimentary about the staff. People told us that staff had been friendly and in their view had been 'very professional'. One person told us 'I received excellent treatment from a skilled dentist'. Staff told us that they had been supported in their job roles and had undertaken training. This meant that people had confidence in the staff who provided their care.
We saw that the provider had systems in place to monitor the service to ensure that people received a quality service. This included a complaints procedure so people could comment where they were dissatisfied with any aspect of the service and the use of questionnaires to find out people's views of the service. People we spoke with told us that the service that they had received was of a good standard and that they had no complaints.