The Care Quality Commission
  • Dentist
  • Dentist

Archived: Mydentist - Willow Street - Oswestry

5-7 Willow Street, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY11 1AF

Provided and run by:
Whitecross Dental Care Limited

All Inspections

11 March 2016

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 11 March 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

Oswestry Dental Centre, part of a national corporate dental body, is a mixed dental practice providing mainly NHS and some private treatment for both adults and children. The practice is situated in a converted commercial property. The practice had four dental treatment rooms and a separate decontamination room for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments. The dental treatment rooms are all situated on the ground floor.

The practice is open 9:00am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday. The practice has three dentists who are supported by four dental nurses and two receptionists.

The practice manager is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission (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.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We received feedback from patients. These provided a completely positive view of the services the practice provides. Patients commented that the quality of care was very good and staff were helpful and understanding.

Our key findings were:

  • The practice was in a transitional phase following a succession of several practice managers in recent times.
  • We found the new practice manager to be hard working, committed and determined to provide effective managerial leadership to the practice.
  • Staff had been trained to handle emergencies and appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment was readily available in accordance with current guidelines.
  • The practice was visibly clean and well maintained.
  • Infection control procedures were robust and the practice followed published guidance.
  • The practice had a dedicated safeguarding lead with effective safeguarding processes in place for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
  • The service was aware of the needs of the local population and took those these into account in how the practice was run.
  • Patients could access treatment and urgent and emergency care when required.
  • A process was in place to report incidents and for shared learning.
  • On the day of our visit there were enough staff to support the dentists during patient treatment. However some staff did reveal that at times the practice was short staffed for both dental nurses and dentists with staff borrowed from a sister to practice to cover shortfalls.
  • 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).
  • Information from eight completed Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards this gave us a positive picture of a friendly, professional service.
  • The practice had a rolling programme of clinical and non-clinical audit in place.

20 April 2012

During a routine inspection

As part of our review we spoke with six people who used Oswestry Dental Centre to gain their experiences of the service they received. People we spoke with included a family, people with a physical disability, people who were new to the practice, had received extensive treatment or had attended the practice since it first opened.

Everybody we spoke with told us they were satisfied with the service and treatment they had received. They shared positive experiences with us and told us they would recommend the practice to family and friends. They said they felt respected and that their privacy and dignity was upheld by staff that were competent in their role. One person said, 'I've been going for years; they are nice and friendly and make me feel at ease.'

People told us they received enough information from the dental centre to make an informed decision about their treatment. They confirmed dentists involved them in their treatment and advised them of their treatment options and costs. People told us they did not receive any unnecessary treatment and always received a copy of their treatment plan and charges.

People said they had completed a questionnaire about their health. They said their dentist regularly asked about any changes to their health. One new patient told us how impressed they were with not having to wait weeks to receive a course of required treatment. They said, 'The dentist was really efficient and didn't do anymore than they needed to do. I've been very very impressed with the quality and standard of work.' They also said they liked the way the dentist had spent time showing instruments and explaining procedures to their young child who had a fear of going to the dentist.

The people we spoke with said they felt safe attending the dental centre and considered they were in good hands. Staff told us they had received training in child protection and adult safeguarding so they knew what action to take if they had concerns regarding a person's wellbeing or if they observed abuse.

People expressed no concerns about the standard of cleanliness and hygiene. They confirmed that clinical staff always wore personal protective clothing such as a short sleeved uniform, gloves and eye protection. One person said, 'The place is always spotlessly clean'. Staff told us they had recently received training in infection control and prevention to help minimise the risk of cross infection.