Care Quality Commission

Here are quotes from some of our patients who were interviewed during our first CQC inspection in November 2012:

“I’m very pleased overall with the practice. I’ve never at all thought I was under pressure to have unnecessary treatments done and I’m confident my dentist gives me the dental care I need.”

Another patient said, “I’m always impressed with how clean and tidy the surgery room is. It looks clinical like you’d expect and it gives me confidence that things are run in a professional way.”

A further patient said, “The staff are very helpful and polite to me. I’m always told what the treatment will cost and how long it will take.”

Our last CQC inspection took place in September 2017 and again passed all five fundamental standards.

Link to the CQC website

Quality Assurance

Our aim as a practice is to provide a professional service in a pleasant and relaxed environment, while providing high quality dental care. Our dentists and hygienists pay particular attention to the following:

• A high quality of dental treatment that provides the optimum health gain, using the best materials and latest techniques
• Respecting the biologic aspects of the mouth; avoiding over-invasive or destructive restorative techniques
• Safety in treatment, in terms of cross infection risk, exposure to x-rays, etc
• A friendly and efficient service from all the practice team; courteous and helpful staff, prompt response to problems and emergencies, written estimates and all the advice and information you need to make an informed consent for treatment

Our Quality Assurance programme enables us to look at outcomes of treatment and the quality of service we provide. Here are some examples of what we do in our Whitstable dental practice:

• every digital x-ray we take is evaluated for quality and given a score; these scores are monitored every month.
• every orthodontic case (braces) is scored before and after treatment using a special index. The percentage difference in the scores then gives us a very accurate measure of quality of treatment.
• every 2 years, Denplan carry out an independent patient satisfaction survey for each dentist in the practice on our behalf. This allows us to see how we compare to the average score for hundreds of similar practices in the UK, (We are pleased to say that our scores are normally in the highest group).
• we participate in the NHS Friends and Family Test (patients complete a confidential questionnaire which asks them if they would recommend our practice to their friends and family).

Kelvin House Dental Practice at Whitstable, is a Gold member of the British Dental Association goodpractice scheme. This means that we have been a member for over 10 years (since the very start of the scheme).

Other documents that relate to Quality Assurance include:

• Freedom of Information Act publication scheme about the general dental services we provide under the National Health Service Act 2006.
• GDC Standards is a list of the nine standards and principles that we adhere to in our practice.
• Data Protection; Privacy Promise for our patients

What is the BDA goodpractice scheme?

This is a brand new initiative, launched by the British Dental Association. We see membership of the scheme as a way of telling our patients that we are committed to working to a standard of Good Practice set by the profession’s national association.

The BDA goodpractice scheme is built around ten commitments: about how the practice is managed and how we look after our patients.

• We aim to provide dental care of consistently good quality, for all patients.
• We only provide care that meets your needs and wishes.
• We aim to make your treatment as comfortable and convenient as possible.
• We look after your general health and safety while receiving dental care.
• We follow the British Dental Association’s guidelines on infection control.
• We check for mouth cancer and tell you what we find.
• We take part in continuing professional development to keep our skills and knowledge up-to-date.
• We train all staff in practice-wide work systems and review training plans once a year.
• We welcome feedback and deal promptly with any complaints.
• Every member of the practice is aware of the need to work safely under General Dental Council guidelines.

Kelvin House Dental Practice is a Denplan Excel accredited practice.

What is Denplan Excel?

Kelvin House Dental Practice is part of the Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme. We are committed to the following principles:

• We care what our patients feel and think about our practice and we listen and respond to their views and opinions.
• We run an anonymous Practice Patient Survey every 2 years.
• We are committed to the measurement of clinical effectiveness and oral health; we communicate this back to our patients.
• We measure each patient’s Oral Health Score at every routine check up.
• We involve our patients in decisions involving their continuing care and treatment. We help patients make informed decisions by supplying quality Information Cards and Leaflets.
• We are committed to opening up our practice to regular independent assessment and review. We act upon the results of the Practice Quality programme.

What if I have a complaint?

If you have a concern or complaint, please let us know via reception and we will deal with it properly and speedily through our in-practice procedure. We would be happy to discuss whatever it is with you, and hopefully resolve the matter quickly and informally. A copy of our Complaints Procedure is available for download.

If any complaint cannot be resolved in-house, Denplan has a fully independent mediation service, while an independent complaints procedure for private dental care is now available via the Dental Complaints Service which is funded by the General Dental Council. NHS complaints are dealt with by PALS (the Patient Advice and Liaison Service) who can be contacted on 0800 085 6606

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