Madeley Dental Practice

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

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 21 March 2016 at Madeley Dental Practice.

Dental services have been provided from the location by the current provider since 2008. The practice provides general dental services to mainly NHS patients, with private treatment available if desired. At the time of our inspection there were approximately 2,500 patients. The practice had recently expanded their treatment rooms from one to two and had drawn up plans and timescales for the implementation of a dedicated decontamination room.

The practice provides dental care and treatment to patients Monday, Thursday and Friday 9am to 5:30pm and Tuesday and Wednesday from 9am to 6pm (with lunchtime closing from 1pm to 2pm). Out of these hours patients with urgent dental needs are directed to contact either NHS 111 or the principal dentist depending on the basis of their treatment.

The provider has two registered practices; our inspection looked only at the services at Madeley Dental Practice. Staffing at the practice differed throughout the week, with at least one dentist providing services each working day. The wider practice team including dental health professionals and the management team covered both practices on a rostered basis.

The principal dentist is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

We received feedback from 16 patients. All of the comments made by patients were highly positive about how they felt about the way in which practice staff treated them. The feedback contained a common reoccurrence of the words professional and caring. A number of comments named individual staff and described instances when patients had been treated with empathy. Patients also told us the practice’s appointment system met their needs.

Our key findings were:

• Patients told us that their care and treatment was explained and they felt involved in decisions about their treatment.
• The appointments system met the needs of patients.
• Patients received clear explanations and written information about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about them.
• The practice was well equipped to meet the needs of patients.
• The practice sought feedback from staff and patients about the services they provided.
• Staff were well trained and knowledgeable about their individual roles.

There was an area where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Review the practice arrangements for storing Glucagon in line with manufacturer’s instructions.