7 March 2012
During a routine inspection
In addition to people working at the practice we also spoke with a patient who was waiting for treatment. We spoke on the telephone to five people who had recently attended the practice for treatment.
The people we spoke with were generally positive about the practice and appreciative of the care they received. Comments included 'couldn't wish for better', 'confident in the person dealing with my teeth' and 'wouldn't go to another dentist'. People told us that they found reception staff to be 'friendly', 'courteous' and 'polite'.
One person told us that they did not enjoy going to the dentist but were reassured by the dentist throughout the treatment. A patients speaking about their treatment said that the dentist 'goes through everything' while someone else said that the dentist 'explained the treatment'. We saw that patients had signed treatment plans which showed the charge for the treatment undertaken.
We saw certificates covering resuscitation, cross infection and fire awareness training which took place during August 2011. The practice manager assured us that all members of staff had attended these training events.
We saw that the practice had obtained a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) enhanced disclosure for a relatively new member of staff. At the time of our visit the practice was awaiting for one person's CRB to arrive.
People said that the practice was clean and that the dentist and nurse wore disposable gloves and aprons when providing their treatment. We received conflicting information about the availability of goggles for patients receiving routine treatment as opposed to treatment such as an extraction.
We asked the dental nurse to explain to us the decontamination arrangements. We saw that heavy duty gloves and goggles were used when brushing debris from instruments. A magnifying glass to look for any remaining debris or damage on the instruments not seen by the naked eye was not used. We were informed that the surgery had not had any for a period of time. The practice manager undertook to obtain magnifiers.
We were told that once instruments come out of the autoclave that they were placed into a sealed packet. The packaged instruments were not dated to show how long they could be safely stored. We were told that many instruments are used again in a short period of time once sterilised. Staff explained that instruments used less frequently were re sterilised after a period of 21 days.
We briefly viewed all five of the surgeries during the lunch hour when no patients were due to be seen. The examination chairs in four of the surgeries were damaged with cuts or tears in the covering. This damage could reduce the effectiveness of through cleaning.
Two days after our visit the practice manager e-mailed us to inform us that they had taken action to resolve the issues highlighted within this report.