The safety and well-being of all our patients is extremely important to us.  We aim to deliver high quality dental treatment in a safe environment and take our clinical and legal obligations to our patients very seriously.  Here are some examples of the systems we have in place to protect our patients and copies of all our policies are freely available from the Practice.

Examination

Our dental examination for both new and regular patients comprises of 3 key parts:

  1. Examination of the oral soft tissues and screening for oral cancer
  2. Examination of the gums and the monitoring of gum condition
  3. Examination of the teeth

In order to ensure that any treatment is done safely, all patients are required to complete a medical history form and this is checked and updated at every subsequent appointment.

Consent

We will only proceed with planned treatment after a patient has given informed consent.  A written estimate will be available for all courses of treatment and patients will be advised immediately should there be a need to change the original treatment plan.

Radiographs (x-rays)

We only take radiographs when they are clinically justified and we take steps to ensure that every radiograph is as accurate as possible to reduce the need to repeat a radiograph.  All our dentists undertake regular radiography training and we follow regulations set out by IRMER.

Cross infection control/Decontamination

We fully comply with the Health Technical Memorandum (HTM 01-05) and are constantly evaluating our policies and procedures to work towards the criteria for best practice.

All our dental instruments are cleaned, sterilised and re-packaged in our Decontamination Suite and we have a full-time member of staff who is responsible for decontamination.  We carry out regular audits and staff training to ensure we consistently reach the gold standard in cross-infection control.

Download our Infection Prevention and Control Policy here

Download our Infection Prevention Procedures here

Download our Annual Statement on the Prevention and Control of Infections here

 

Cold Sore Policy

Cold sores are very common and are small, painful, fluid-filled blisters that usually present on the border of the lips.  They are highly infectious and can be transmitted through the aerosols created during dental treatment – although they are usually harmless they can cause severe complications if the virus gets into someone’s eyes, including permanent blindness.  For the safety of everybody we would therefore politely ask patients with active cold sores to contact the Practice to rearrange any non-urgent dental appointments until after the cold sore has healed.

 

Care Quality Commission (CQC)

We are registered and comply with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC are the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

» View our profile on the CQC website

General Dental Council registration

All our dentists and dental hygienists are registered with the General Dental Council (GDC).  All members of our nursing team are also either fully registered as Dental Care Professionals or are undertaking a recognised training qualification in dental nursing as required by the GDC.

General Dental Council Contact Details:

37 Wimpole Street
London
W1G 8DQ

UK local rate 0845 222 4141
From abroad +44 20 7887 3800
[email protected]
www.gdc-uk.org

Patient surveys/feedback

We carry out regular patient surveys to enable us to improve the running of the practice and the way we deliver patient care.  We also have an ongoing suggestion box in our waiting room where patients can leave general comments and suggestions.

Our current patient survey can be accessed here.

The results of our latest patient survey can be accessed here.

Safeguarding

We take our safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously and we have procedures in place to ensure that vulnerable adults and children are treated with dignity and respect at all times.

First aid

All members of staff are required to participate in regular CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training and also in the management of medical emergencies.

In addition, Pamela Drabble, Hannah Flint, Samantha Johnson and Mandy Heathcoate are trained as first-aiders for the dental practice.

Fire Training

As a Practice we receive annual training in fire safety and all our fire safety equipment is checked and inspected on a regular basis.  We also have dedicated Fire Marshall’s who have received extra training in fire safety – Andrew Chalmers, Jamie Denholm, Paul Flint, Sally Boyes and Natalie Boyle.

Complaints

We take complaints very seriously and try to ensure that all our patients are pleased with their experience of our service.  When patients complain, they are dealt with courteously and promptly so that the matter is resolved as quickly as possible.

Download our Complaints policy here

Information Governance and Data Protection

Information Governance (IG) encompasses a number of policies and procedures to manage the way in which data is stored and used by an organisation.  This includes both paper and electronic data.

Our practice is fully compliant with the latest IG legislation and with the Data Protection Act 2018 (including GDPR) and we regularly carry out audits to ensure that information is both used and stored appropriately.

Paul Flint is our named Information Governance lead and he is also our Caldicott Guardian and Senior Information Risk Officer.  Any concerns or questions regarding Information Governance or Data Protection should be addressed by letter directly to Paul, or by e-mail on [email protected]  

Dee McNamara is our named Data Protection Officer and she is responsible for the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).  Any queries regarding GDPR should be addressed by letter directly to Dee, or by e-mail on [email protected] 

An information leaflet on how the Practice uses patient information can be downloaded here

Accessible Information for Patients

We aim to ensure that all patients get information that they can easily access and understand.  To help with this we have induction loops that are widely available to all patients and all our Practice-based literature is available in large print, easy read and braille.

If you have any particular communication needs or require specific support during dental appointments then please inform any member of staff or alternatively let us know via our online contact form.