Southchurch Family Dental Centre

We carried out this announced inspection on 13 November 2019 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We planned the inspection to check whether the registered provider was meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations. The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it caring?

• Is it responsive to people’s needs?

• Is it well-led?

These questions form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.

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

Southchurch Family Dental Centre is part of the Mydentist group and lies in the Clifton area of Nottingham and provides NHS and private dental treatment to adults and children.

There is level access into the practice with a fixed ramp to the front door. There is also level access into the three ground floor treatment rooms, which is of benefit to patients in wheelchairs, with restricted mobility and parents with pushchairs. Roadside car parking spaces are available near the practice. The practice is a short walk from the Rivergreen tram stop.

The dental team includes six dentists, three dental nurses including one trainee, three receptionists and a practice manager. The practice has five treatment rooms and a centralised dental instrument decontamination room.

The practice is owned by an organisation and as a condition of registration must have a person registered with the Care Quality Commission as the registered manager. Registered managers 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 at Southchurch Family Dental Centre is the practice manager.

On the day of inspection, we collected 23 CQC comment cards filled in by patients. Comments from patients were all positive.

During the inspection we spoke with three dentists and two dental nurses and the practice manager. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

The practice is open:

Monday and Tuesday: from 8.30am to 6pm and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: from 8.30am to 5pm.

Our key findings were:

• The practice appeared clean and well maintained.
• The provider had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The provider had systems to help them manage risk to patients and staff.
• The provider had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
• The provider had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• Staff provided preventive care and supported patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system took account of patients’ needs.
• The provider had effective leadership and culture of continuous improvement.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The provider asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The provider dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
• Improvements could be made to the quality assurance system to ensure audit cycles are completed.
• The provider had suitable information governance arrangements.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:

• Take action to ensure , where appropriate, audits have documented learning points and the resulting improvements can be demonstrated.