Archived: Manor Park Dental Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 10 September 2015 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

The Manor Park Dental practice is located in the London Borough of Bromley. The premises are laid out over two floors with seven treatment rooms, two dedicated decontamination rooms, waiting rooms with reception area, staff room, storage room and two toilets.

The practice provides private dental services and treats both adults and children. The practice offers a range of dental services including routine examinations and treatment, veneers, crowns and bridges, implants, orthodontics and oral hygiene.

The staff structure of the practice is comprised of a principal dentist (who is also the owner), eight associate dentists, two hygienists, nine dental nurses and three receptionists. One of the dental nurses also works as the practice manager. There is an orthodontist who works at the practice one day a week. One of the associate dentists was also qualified as a vocational trainer and was currently supervising one trainee dentist at the practice.

The practice opening hours are from Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 6.00pm.

This is an established practice which changed ownership and registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in January 2015. It has not been inspected since this change in ownership. The principal dentist was the registered manager at the time of the inspection. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the CQC 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 inspection took place over one day and was carried out by a CQC inspector and dentist specialist advisor.

Forty people provided feedback about the service. Patients were positive about the care they received from the practice. They were complimentary about the friendly and caring attitude of the dental staff.

Our key findings were:

• 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).

• There were effective systems in place to reduce and minimise the risk and spread of infection.

• The practice had effective safeguarding processes in place and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.

• Equipment, such as the air compressor, autoclave (steriliser), fire extinguishers, and X-ray equipment had all been checked for effectiveness and had been regularly serviced.

• Patients indicated that they felt they were listened to and that they received good care from a helpful and caring practice team.

• The practice had implemented clear procedures for managing comments, concerns or complaints.

• The practice manager had a clear vision for the practice and staff told us they were well supported by the management team.

• Governance arrangements and audits were effective in improving the quality and safety of the services.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Review the practice’s sharps procedures giving due regard to the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013.
• Review processes for learning from incidents and accidents to ensure that opportunities for improving the quality of the service are maximised.