Code of Practice for Handling Patient Complaints
We want our service to meet your expectations. If you have a concern or complaint about any aspect of our service, we want to know what mistakes we made and identify how we can improve to ensure that we meet your expectations in future. Our aim is to learn from any feedback we receive and improve the service we provide to our patients.
We will deal with complaints courteously and promptly and aim to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.
Making a Complaint
If you wish to make a complaint or simply let us know how we could have done better, please raise your concern with any member of the team:
- By filling out our feedback form.
- By telephone
- By email
- By letter
- In person
Once feedback is received, we will try to deal with this promptly and informally in the first instance. However, should you feel you need to raise any feedback formally we will pass this onto the Complaints Manager.
The Complaints’ Manager usually works at the practice but may work offsite. We will endeavour to be available during our opening times. You may find it more convenient to make an appointment with Complaints’ Manager to ensure that [she/he] can dedicate sufficient time to discuss your feedback.
If the matter requires a more immediate response, we will arrange for a senior member of the dental team to deal with it.
We acknowledge all complaints in writing and enclose a copy of this code of practice as soon as possible, normally within 3 working days.
Investigating a Complaint
We will offer to discuss the complaint with you and ask how you would like to be informed of developments – by telephone, letters or e-mail or by face-to-face meetings. We will let you know how we will deal with your complaint and the likely time that the investigation will take to complete. If you do not wish to discuss the complaint further, we will still let you know the expected timescale for completing the investigation.
We will investigate your complaint promptly and update you at least every 10 working days, as far as reasonably practicable, to let you know how our investigation is progressing.
When we have completed our investigation, we will provide you with a full written report, unless you have told us you do not wish further communication. The report will explain how we considered the complaint, the conclusions we reached for each part of your complaint, details of any remedial action we have taken and whether further action is needed.
Records
We keep proper and comprehensive records of any complaints that we receive and the action we have taken following investigation. We review these records regularly to ensure that we recognise our mistakes and take every opportunity to improve our service.
If You are not Satisfied
If your complaint was about your dental treatment and you are not satisfied with the result of our investigation, you can take up the matter with a relevant external organisation.
For complaints about NHS treatment:
ENGLAND:
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank London SW1P 4QP (0345 015 4033 or www.ombudsman.org.uk).
For complaints about private treatment:
Dental Complaints Service, 37 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8DQ
Tel: 020 8253 0800 or online at https://contactus.gdc-uk.org/dcs/Complaint/PrivatePatients
Code of Practice for Patient Complaints
At our practices, we take complaints very seriously indeed and try to ensure that all our patients are pleased with their experience of our service. When patients complain, they are dealt with courteously and promptly so that the matter is resolved as quickly as possible. This procedure is based on these objectives.
Our aim is to react to complaints in the way in which we would want our complaint about a service to be handled. We learn from every mistake that we make and we respond to customers’ concerns in a caring and sensitive way.
- The people responsible for dealing with any complaints about the service which we provide are:
Bosworth Dental Practice: Abbie Beckwith
City Way Dental Practice: Sarah Kisser
High Street Dental Practice, Rochester: Kirsty Hayes
Oradent Ashford: Rebecca Coward
Oradent Lydd: Rebecca Coward
Oradent New Romney: Rebecca Coward
Peartree Dental Care: Victoria Jupe
- If a patient complains on the telephone or in person, we will listen to their complaint and offer to refer him or her to the Practice Manager immediately. If the Practice Manager is not available at the time, then the patient will be informed when they will be able to talk to the Practice Manager and arrangements will be made for this to happen. The member of staff will take brief details of the complaint and pass them on to the Practice Manager. If we cannot arrange this within a reasonable period or if the patient does not wish to wait to discuss the matter, arrangements will be made for someone else to deal with it.
- If the patient complains in writing or by email, it will be passed on immediately to:
Bosworth Dental Practice: Abbie Beckwith
City Way Dental Practice: Kirsty Hayes
High Street Dental Practice, Rochester: Kirsty Hayes
Oradent Ashford: Rebecca Coward
Oradent Lydd: Rebecca Coward
Oradent New Romney: Rebecca Coward
Peartree Dental Care: Victoria Jupe
- If a complaint is about any aspect of clinical care or associated charges it will normally be referred to the dentist concerned, unless the patient does not want this to happen.
- We will acknowledge the patient’s complaint in writing and enclose a copy of this code of practice within three working days.
- We will seek to investigate the complaint within ten working days of receipt to give an explanation of the circumstances which led to the complaint. If the patient does not wish to meet us, then we will attempt to talk to them on the telephone. If we are unable to investigate the complaint within ten working days we will notify the patient, giving reasons for the delay and a likely period within which the investigation will be completed.
- We will confirm the decision about the complaint in writing immediately after completing our investigation.
- Proper and comprehensive records are kept of any complaint received as well as any actions taken to improve services as a consequence of a complaint.
- If patients are not satisfied with the result of our procedure then a complaint may be made to:
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP. Telephone: 0345 015 4033 www.ombudsman.org.uk
The Dental Complaints Service, The Lansdowne Building, 2 Lansdowne Road, Croydon, Greater London, CR9 2ER. Telephone: 08456 120 540 www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk
The General Dental Council, 37 Wimpole Street, London. W1N 8DQ. Telephone: 0845 222 4141, the dentists’ regulatory body for complaints about professional misconduct