Policy for handling patient complaints

It is our aim to have satisfied patients, to meet your expectations of care and service and to resolve any complaints as efficiently, effectively and politely as possible. We take complaints very seriously and we investigate them in a full and fair way, taking great care to protect your confidentiality. We will never discriminate against patients who have made a complaint.

If you are not entirely satisfied with any aspect of our care or service then please let us know as soon as possible to allow us to address your concerns promptly. We will endeavour to send you a copy of our complaints procedure, so that you understand the process fully.

If you do not feel you can raise a complaint about our NHS service directly with us, you can address your complaint directly to england.contactus@nhs.net with ‘For the attention of the complaints team’ in the subject line. The dental regulator, the General Dental Council, also considers complaints against members of the dental profession.

James Chippendale is the Complaints Manager and will be your personal contact to assist you with any complaints. If your verbal complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction within 3 working days, or if you complain in writing, the Complaints Manager will acknowledge it in writing within 5 working days and will aim to provide a full response in writing within a further 7 working days.

If the Complaints Manager is unavailable, we will take brief details about the complaint and will arrange for a meeting when the manager is next available.  We will keep comprehensive and confidential records of your complaint which will be stored securely and will only be accessible only by those who need to know about or deal with your complaint.

If the complaint investigation takes longer than anticipated the Complaints Manager will keep you informed of the reason for the delay, the progress of the investigation and the proposed date that it will be completed.

When the investigation has been completed you will be informed of its outcome in writing. You will also be invited to a meeting to discuss the results and any practical solutions that we can offer to you.

We regularly analyse patient complaints to learn from them and to improve our services. That is why we always welcome your feedback, comments, suggestions and complaints. If you are dissatisfied with our response to a complaint you can take it further, please see the contacts below.

Contacts

For private dental treatment you can contact the private dental complaints service within 12 months of the treatment or within 12 months of becoming aware of the issue, by calling 020 8253 0800 or visiting www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk

If you are still unhappy about your NHS complaint, you can contact NHS England at england.contactus@nhs.net

The General Dental Council is responsible for regulating all dental professionals. You can complain using their online form at www.gdc-uk.org, contact them on information@gdc-org.uk or by calling 020 7167 6000.

You can also contact the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who regulates private and NHS dental care services in England, by calling 03000 616161. They can take action against a service provider that is not meeting their standards.

The Parliamentary Health Ombudsman (England) can be contacted by calling 0345 015 4033 or visiting www.ombudsman.org.uk