complaints

Code of Practice for Patient Complaints

In this practice we take complaints very seriously indeed and try to ensure that all patients are pleased with their experience of our service. We adopt a nondiscriminatory approach to dealing with patient complaints and treat all patients with courtesy and respect. Our practice is committed to ensuring and safeguarding patient rights. We adhere to Equality Act 2010. When patients complain, they are dealt with courteously and promptly so that the matter is resolved as quickly as possible.

Our aim is to react to complaints in the way in which we would all want a complaint about a service to be handled. We learn from every mistake that we make and we respond to patients’ concerns in a caring and sensitive way.

1. The person responsible within the Practice for dealing with any complaint about the service which we provide is Practice Manager
2. If a patient complains on the telephone or at the reception desk, we will listen to his or her complaint and offer to refer him or her to Practice Manager immediately. If the Practice Manager is not available at that specific time, then the patient will be told when she/he will be able to talk to the dentist and arrangements will be made for this to happen. A member of the staff will take brief details of the complaint and pass them on. 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.
3. If the patient complains in writing the letter will be passed on immediately to the Practice Manager
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.
5. We will acknowledge the patient’s complaint verbally and / or in writing and enclose a copy of this code of practice within three working days. We will seek to investigate the complaint and provide a response within twenty working days of the complaint being received. If this is not possible, we will inform the complainant in a timely manner of any unavoidable delays.
6. We will confirm the decision about the complaint in writing to the patient immediately after completing our investigation.
7. If 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 must know that you have permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of physical or mental illness) of providing this.
8. If preferred, a patient may want to copy in their local NHS Area Team who will be happy to monitor how we handle the complaint, or they may want to contact them directly and they will forward the complaint onto us. Alternatively for further advice patients could contact ICAS (Independent Complaints Advocacy Service) Helpline 08453373054 or the Dental Complaints Service (Private Patients only) Helpline 08456 120 540. There maybe other advocacy services in the area and details of these can be obtained from the Practice Manager.
9. If patients are not satisfied at the end of local resolution then they may approach the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman at Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP Tel: 0345 0154033 to request an independent review.
10. You can also report your concerns to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at: http://www.cqc.org.uk/contactus/howtoraiseaconcernorcomplaint.cfm The CQC is the independent regulator for all health and social care services in England, whether they are provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies or voluntary organisations.
11. Proper and comprehensive records are kept of any complaint received and details of each complaint are forwarded to the Head Office of Integrated Dental Holdings.