When I began considering locations for my practice, I knew that I wanted to practise somewhere with a reputation for a high standard of care. I purchased W1 Dental on Wimpole Street two years ago, in March 2011.
Our patients at W1 come from a wide range of backgrounds and are a variety of ages. What they all have in common is that they are looking for a high standard of care and someone they can trust to do what’s in their best interest. Our practice aims to provide a welcoming, relaxing atmosphere where the staff are always friendly and provide the highest standard of care and service but on a personable level.
We have five staff members employed at the practice; a practice manager, a dental nurse, two hygienists and an aesthetic practitioner who can provide facial rejuvenation treatments such as Botox and fillers.
Compliant and calming
Not long ago we completely renovated the surgeries, office and reception area of W1 Dental. Our first priority in the redesign was to comply with the CQC regulations for best practice with the addition of a separate decontamination area. We also wanted to create more space for a second area, a staff room with kitchenette and more storage space.
We wanted to create the feeling of uncluttered space, calm and cleanliness. We have three dental surgeries, an office, a reception area, a staff room, a decontamination room, private toilet, and stock room. Our focus was to provide a practical space that was easy to maintain a high standard of cleanliness and in line with CQC regulations such as capped and coved flooring and no areas to collect dust. We wanted to create all this without a cold, clinical feeling and this has definitely has been achieved.
We chose Anglian Dental to supply the dental equipment and cabinetry as they came highly recommended by a colleague. We were impressed by the customer service, attention to detail and very helpful team. We also viewed a surgery nearby they had refurbished and were impressed by the design. Anglian was excellent at advising on dental equipment and able to point us in the right direction on which compressors and suction pump to purchase that would have the right capacity for our surgeries. We didn’t even need to visit the Takara Belmont showroom as a nearby colleague had just installed the same Belmont chair we were interested in purchasing.
Comfort and joy
We chose the Belmont chair because of its comfort and design and because Belmont also has a good reputation for features and durability. The model we have has a foot rest that completely folds away on the seating position so it is easily accessible to elderly and disabled patients. Colours were also very important to the new look of the practice as we were keen to create the right kind of mood. We went for bright splashes of colours on the dental and nursing chairs but kept the walls and floor quite muted so there is a bright and positive atmosphere but it’s not too overwhelming.
We were able to condense our cabinetry quite a bit, too, as with proper design, we realised we had a lot of space which was just not used well. This allowed us to create a lot more room. All in all, the refurbishment took around four months to complete. The initial stages of design and planning were surprisingly enjoyable, and the actual refurbishment was quite painless as Anglian and its contracting team, Apollo, were organised and efficient. We have had extremely positive feedback from patients - the usual comment is it looks a lot more spacious and light and the staff and the patients continue to enjoy the new look and space.