Archived: Bupa Dental Care Hereford

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Oasis Dental Practice on 9 January 2015. The practice is known locally as Pool Farm.

Pool Farm is a mixed dental practice providing NHS and private treatment. The practice caters for children and adults and is situated in a part of Hereford that has areas of social deprivation. Hereford has a significant Eastern European population and the practice team includes dentists who speak several European languages.

The practice is situated in a converted listed building which had been upgraded since our last inspection. The practice provides services on two floors and has a reception area on the ground floor. This is separate from the ground floor waiting room to provide greater privacy for patients when speaking with reception staff. The practice has seven dental treatment rooms and three decontamination rooms for cleaning, sterilising and packing dental instruments.

The practice has a full time practice manager who is registered with the Care Quality Commission as the registered manager. They are legally responsible for making sure the practice meets the regulations from the Health and Social Care Act 2008 relating to the quality and safety of care.

The practice has seven dentists and twelve multi-skilled dental nurses one of whom is the practice’s lead nurse. The dental nurse team also carry out reception duties and there are two further receptionists and a practice co-ordinator. There are two part time dental hygienists who provide preventative advice and gum treatments on prescription from the dentists working in the practice. A number of the dental nurses carry out extended duties including preventative fluoride applications and the provision of oral health education. Oasis had recently appointed a lead dentist to provide clinical leadership to the other dentists at the practice.

Before the inspection we sent Care Quality Commission comment cards to the practice for patients to complete to tell us about their experience of the practice. We collected 19 completed cards. These provided a positive view of the service the practice provides. Patients commented that the team were courteous, efficient and kind. Several wrote that they were seen on time and were pleased with their dental treatment. A number commented that the practice was clean and that they appreciated the recent improvements to the building.

Our key findings were:

• Staff reported incidents and kept records of these which the practice used for shared learning. The practice had enough staff to deliver the service.
• The practice was visibly clean and well maintained.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current best practice guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and other published guidance.
• The practice had effective safeguarding processes in place and staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children living in vulnerable circumstances.
• The practice placed an emphasis on the promotion of good oral health and provided regular oral health instruction to patients.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported in their continued professional development (CPD).
• Information from 19 completed CQC comment cards gave us a positive picture of a friendly, professional service.
• The practice took into account any comments, concerns or complaints and used these to help them improve the practice.
• The practice manager and lead nurse were proud of the practice and their team. Staff felt well supported and were committed to providing a quality service to their patients.