Patient Complaints Procedure
We aim to always have satisfied patients, to meet their expectations of care and service to deal with complaints quickly, to investigate complaints in a full and fair way and to respect patient confidentiality. To help us achieve these aims we follow this policy and have an effective complaints procedure.
If you are not entirely satisfied with any aspect of our care or service please let us now as soon as possible to allow us to address your concerns promptly. We never discriminate against patients who have made a complaint and we aim to resolve complaints as quickly, effectively and smoothly as possible. Please address all complaints to Miss Jemma Gunter the complaints officer.
If you wish to make a complaint on the telephone or in person please ask for Jemma Gunter. If she in unavailable, we will take brief details about the complaint and let you know when you can talk to the dentist. If we cannot arrange this within a reasonable period time or if you do not wish to wait, we will make arrangements for another team member to speak to you as soon as possible.
If you choose to complain in writing please address it to Miss Jemma Gunter. If your complaint is about any aspect of clinical care or associated charges, your dentist will be asked for their view, unless you do not want us to do so.
We will keep comprehensive and confidential records of your complaint. All details will be stored securely and only those persons who need to know about it will be informed.
If we cannot resolve your complain immediately it will be acknowledged in writing within 3 working days and we will provide a full response within a reasonable time, confirmed with you. We aim to provide a response within 10 working days.
If the complaint needs to be investigated, this will involve the treating dentist if there is one, the relevant members of the team, the practice owner and others if necessary. If the investigation is likely to take longer than the time we have agreed with you, you will be informed about the reasons for the delay and the date the investigation will be completed. You will also be informed about the progress of the investigation and of any further delays.
When the investigation has been completed, you will be informed of its outcome and invited to a meeting to discuss the results and any practical solutions.
The practice regularly analyses any patient complaints to learn from them and to improve our standards of care and service. That’s why we always welcome your feedback, comments, suggestions and complaints.
If you dissatisfied with our response to a complaint you can take it further, contact information will be provided in the letter. Please see contact details below:
Complaining to Dental Complaints Service
We hope that, if you have a problem, you will make use of our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will provide the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. However, this does not affect your right to complain to the Dental Complaints Service, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.
If you wish for further advice, you should contact:
Dental Complaints Service
Stephenson House
2 Cherry Orchard Rd
Croydon
CR0 6BA
E-mail: info@dentalcomplaints.org.uk
Tel: 020 8253 0800
You may also like to contact the General Dental Council for more advice.
General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street
London
W1M 8DQ
E-mail: Complaints@gdc-uk.org
Tel: 020 7887 3800
For patients with a Denplan payment plan, contact the Clinical Mediation and Risk Management team for advice at:
Simplyhealth Professionals
Email: clinicalmediationservice@denplan.co.uk
Tel. 0800 169 7220
