Complaints policy

Complaints policy

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the dentists or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure. Our complaint system adheres to national criteria.

How to complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally, within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – because this will enable us to establish what happened most easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint. At this stage, you will be asked to sign and verify exactly what your complaint is.

• within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
• within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident.

Complaints about the treatment you received should be made to the dentist who normally sees you. Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with the Practice Manager in order to discuss your concerns. She will explain the complaints procedure to you and will ensure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will help if you are as clear as possible about your complaint.

What we shall do

We shall acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days of the date when you raised it with us. We shall then be in a position to give you an explanation, or offer a meeting with those involved. In investigating your complaint, we shall aim to:

• find out what happened and what went wrong
• enable you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this;
  
• ensure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate;
  
• identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.
  

If you are complaining on behalf of someone else Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have the permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless that are incapable of providing this because of physical or mental illness or are a child under 16 years.

Unresolved complaint

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, if you feel that the matter remains unresolved or that you cannot raise the complaint with us, you may address your complaint to;

• The Dental Complaints Service, The Lansdowne Building, 2 Lansdowne Road, Croydon, Greater London CR9 2ER (Telephone: 08456 120 540) for complaints about private treatment
• The General Dental Council, 37 Wimpole Street, London, W1M 8DQ (Telephone: 0845 222 4141), the dentists’ regulatory body for complaints about professional misconduct
  
• NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch B97 9PT. Telephone 03003112233 e-mail: England.conctactus@nhs.net marked “For attention of the complaints manager”
  
• Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsmen Tel: 0345 015 4033 or you can send a text to them ‘call back’ service: 07624 813 005, with your name and mobile number.
  
• HealthWatch Bucks, Centre Parade, Place Farm Way, Monks Risborough, Princes Risborough, HP27 9JS, Tel: 01844 348 839 Den plan Tel. 0800 3893892