Complaints Policy

• 1. It is our aim to try to resolve any concerns locally at Practice level and the Practice Manager is responsible for dealing with and investigating all patient complaints.
• 2. An easy way of expressing your concerns is by filling in our concerns/complaints form, which is available upon request from our Practice Managers.
• 3. If you require assistance with making a complaint, patients may wish to contact the Independent Health Complaints Advocacy (IHCA).
• 4. If a complaint is about any aspect of clinical care or associated charges, it will normally be referred to the dentist for their comments, and perhaps individual, responses.
• 5. The dentists are responsible for their own clinical activity and we ensure that they are adequately insured and indemnified by their own insurance companies whilst they are practising at our practices.
• 6. We will acknowledge any complaint within three working days of receipt of the complaint, either verbally, or in writing. With our patient’s agreement, we will seek to investigate the complaint and aim to provide a response within 10 working days of the complaint being received.
• 7. In some cases, it is not possible to provide a response within 10 working days, as it may be necessary to fully investigate all aspects of the complaint and obtain comments from the dentists and/or other professionals involved in the treatment or care. If it is not possible to provide a response within 10 working days, we will inform the patient, in a timely manner, of any unavoidable delays.
• 8. If complaining on behalf of someone, please note that we will need their written express consent to share their confidential information.
• 9.In order to request patient records, a request can be made to the Practice Manager, who will follow the guidelines set out by the Data Protection Act, to release these. The simplest way to request records is to complete our Records Request Form.