Enter and view: Gatrad and Associates to practice, Hertfordshire

Enter and View visit into Dental Practices in Hertfordshire following the outcomes of a joint project between HWH and Public Health locally.

Focus of visit: Environment, Physical Access, Information Access, Equality and Diversity and Complaints Handling. Authorised HWH representatives used an observational checklist to record findings and had 13 specific subject areas to ask about.

Summary of Findings:

Good practice:

• Transparency around NHS Fees.

• Approach to patients who cannot speak or understand English.

• Approach to patients with a learning disability.

• Clear medical emergency procedure.

Areas for improvement:

• Clarity on patients parking in the car park and accessible parking.

• Accessibility to the practice for those with specific requirements.

• The complaints policy.

• The practice’s NHS Choices page.

Recommendations

• Signage - Improve signage on the outside to the main entrance.

• Car Parking - create 1 or 2 designated accessible parking spaces in the practice’s car park.

• Visible External Information - Include NHS logo on signage outside the practice and information about 111 in larger print.

• Wider variety of chairs in the waiting room, including chairs with armrests, to benefit service users less able to rise from a seated position.

• All notices in the waiting room in a large typeface to be accessible to all patients.

• Create a board with photos of staff members in waiting room.

• Waiting room to be supervised at all times to prevent service users entering unauthorised areas.

Facilities to consider:

• installing a bell outside the practice for service users with access requirements.

• decreasing size of step in main entrance for ease of access for wheelchair users.

• creating a section of the desk that would be wheelchair accessible to improve communication for all.

• widening the corridor that leads to the patient toilet.

• colour contrast in the toilet facilities to protect the dignity of patients living with dementia.

• Install a red alarm cord in the toilet to ensure the safety of all patients.

• installing system which service users can see the toilet is occupied from the waiting room.

Complaints:

• Update the complaints policy and is uniform across all platforms.

• Incorporate Pohwer, the independent advocacy organisation for Hertfordshire, into the complaints policy in accordance with the Regulation of Dental Services Programme Board.

Dental Practice and NHS Choices Website - to consider:

• Updating the practice’s entry on NHS Choices.

• Inclusion of lunchtime in the opening hours on the website.

• Renaming the ‘Appointments’ section to ‘Contact Us’ to ease patients’ access to information.

• Including all staff members on the ‘Meet the Team’ page.

Communication - to consider:

• Patients’ communication needs are checked regularly to meet requirements of the Accessible Information Standard.

• Creating a dedicated private space for patients’ confidential conversations, or need to recovery.

• Ways to ease access for the visually impaired by installing braille signs in places.

Medical Emergencies - to consider:

• Creating a designated first aid area in the staff room.

• Reality of one designated first aider to always be in the practice.