Complaints Policy for Patients

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, adhering to national criteria.

How to make a Complaint

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 either:
Within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem.
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. They 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 Will Do

We will acknowledge your complaint within 2 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.
• 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 they are incapable of providing this because of physical or mental illness, or are a child under 16 years.

If you wish to take your complaint further

Private Complaints
Dental Complaints Service, 37 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8DQ
Telephone 020 8253 0800 (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm) Online https://dcs.gdc-uk.org/

NHS Complaints
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)
Telephone 0345 015 4033 Online https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint

Finance Complaints
Financial Ombudsman Service
Telephone 0800 023 4567 Email complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk