We are proud to announce that Westleigh Dental Care was awarded the BDA Good Practice certification. The BDA are a trade union and professional body, who represent all fields of dentistry and offer advice and education. Their duty is to promote patient interests, advance the art, science and ethics of dentistry, and improve the nation’s oral health. The BDA work to nationally agreed standards of good practice, to develop and maintain a consistent quality of service for patients.
In October an assessor from the BDA visited the practice to assess how we were performing. Here is her assessment.
Westleigh Dental Practice is a large, well-presented and well-established general dental practice with good patient access, offering private dentistry to the local community. The assessor found the practice to be well-led, particularly by the practice manager, with a very strong sense of dedication to and care for their elderly patient base. There was effective use of systems for HR management, staff rotas and time keeping. The assessor spoke to various members of the team and was satisfied with their knowledge of practice policies, procedures, and national guidance. The practice also demonstrated robust risk assessments, rolling audits, and relevant, reviewed, and updated policies.
Practice meetings are held regularly, with the opportunity taken to discuss any areas for improvement. The practice manager demonstrated an obvious open-door policy with staff. Feedback and appraisals are being held regularly and access to online CPD provided for the whole team.
The practice demonstrated that clear communication was a priority to help the practice run efficiently and to engage with patients. Be that via their waiting room screen, posters and signage within the practice and to take away, as well as blogs on various oral health and other topics related to dentistry on their website. The leadership team led by the principals and their manager, work collaboratively with the whole team. A positive work culture was evident. WhatsApp groups, birthdays and socials were just some of the ways in which they strive for team cohesion within the practice.
The assessor concluded that based on what was observed and discussed during the visit, the practice has worked hard to meet the requirements of BDA Good Practice. The assessor found it a pleasure to visit this practice and looks forward to them being a valued addition to the Good Practice membership. Well done!
What does this mean for patients?
• We will work with you to provide care that meets your needs and wishes. We will explain options and costs so that you can make an informed choice. We will always tell you what we are proposing to do and tell you about any significant risks
• We hold regular practice meetings to review our procedures for looking after our patients
• We look after your general health and safety while you are at the practice. We ask you about your
general health and any medicines that you are taking. This helps us to treat you safely. We keep
all information about you confidential
Infection control and cleanliness are essential for the safety of our patients. All members of our
team receive training in the current standards of infection control
• We screen all our patients for mouth cancer and discuss tobacco and alcohol use because these
increase your risk of oral cancer
• Everyone at the practice takes part in continuing professional development to keep their skills and
knowledge up to date
• All new members of the team are trained in our practice procedures. Once a year we review
individual training needs for everyone in the practice
• We ask our patients for their views on our services and have systems for dealing with feedback to
identify any opportunities for improvement
At Westleigh Dental Care we strive to offer the best service to our patients, support our staff and give back to the community. If you have any feedback on how we are doing you can fill in one of our questionnaires or feedback forms at the practice or drop us an email at info@westleighdentalcare.co.uk
