Our procedure should you have a complaint
We take complaints very seriously and endeavor to ensure that all patients are pleased with their experience of our services. Should a patient complain, they are always dealt courteously and promptly and we aim to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. If you have a complaint, then please come and talk to us as we find that most problems revolve around communications issues which can usually be resolved quickly.
Our procedure is based on the following objectives;
- Our aim is to react to complaints in a way in which we would want our complaint about a service to be handled. We aim to learn from mistakes and to respond to patients concerns in a caring and sensitive manner.
- The person initially responsible for dealing with any complaint about the service we provide is the Practice Manager.
- If a patient complains on the telephone or at the reception desk, we will listen to his/her complaint and refer him/her to the Practice Manager immediately.
- If the Practice Manager is not available at the time, the patient will be advised when they can speak to them and arrangements will be made for this to happen. The member of our staff will take brief details of the complaint and pass them on to the Practice Manager / Dentist concerned.
- If a patient complains in writing, the correspondence will be passed immediately to the Practice Manager who will investigate the situation and communicate with the dentist/patient involved.
- If a complaint is raised about any aspect of clinical care or associated charges, it will normally be referred to the relevant dentist, unless the patient does not wish this to happen.
- Although we try to deal with any complaint immediately, we will always acknowledge a patient’s complaint in writing within 7 days of receipt and will seek to investigate the complaint within 10 working days of the complaint being received. We will then contact the patient with an explanation of our findings. If we are unable to investigate a complaint within 10 working days, we will notify the patient and provide an explanation for the delay together with a likely period within which the investigation will be completed.
- We will confirm the decision about the complaint in writing to the patient immediately after completing our investigation.
- Proper and comprehensive reports are kept of any complaint received along with subsequent communications.
If a patient is not satisfied with the result of our procedure, a complaint may be submitted to the Dental Complaints Service. Please ask our Practice Manager for further information.