Complaints procedure

Complaints Policy and Procedure

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Patient satisfaction is our highest priority here at Waterfall Dental & Implant Centre, and we hope that all our patients leave Smiling With Confidence. However, if you are dissatisfied with any aspect of your care or service, please let us know. We operate a clear and transparent complaints procedure outlined below. We take all complaints very seriously and use all forms of feedback to improve the care that we provide.

1. How to make a complaint

We hope that most problems can be resolved easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned, often in person or over the phone. If your problem cannot be sorted out this way and you wish to make a formal complaint, we request that you send an email or letter outlining the details of your complaint to info@waterfalldentalimplantcentre.co.uk. Any formal complaints should be addressed to the practice manager who will be responsible for managing the complaint, unless otherwise advised. This will enable us to establish what happened more easily, enabling us to conduct a thorough investigation into your complaint.

2. What happens next

We will acknowledge your email/ letter of complaint within three working days of receipt.
We aim to investigate your complaint within 20 working days of the date of receipt as per NHS guidelines. If it is not possible to resolve this within that timeframe, we will inform you and let you know when you are likely to receive a full response.

When we investigate a complaint, we aim to:
• Find out what happened and what went wrong
• Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned if you would like this
• Make sure you receive an apology where this is appropriate
• Identify what we can do to ensure the problem doesn’t happen again.

Should a patient make a complaint or claim, we may need to provide information about the patient and treatment they have received to insurers, indemnifiers or legal advisers.
Complaints involving clinical care will normally be referred to the treating dentist unless requested otherwise.
Records of complaints are kept securely for two years and will not affect your ongoing care.

3. Time limits

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Complaints should ideally be made as soon as possible after the issue arises. This allows us to carry out the most effective investigation. Complaints must be made at the latest within 12 months of the incident.

4. Complaints made on behalf of someone else

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We follow strict rules of patient confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of another patient, we require their written or emailed consent before we can investigate, unless they are unable to provide this due to illness or incapacity.

5. Patient support and advocacy

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If you would like support making a complaint, you can contact:
• Your local Healthwatch who can provide advice and advocacy.
• NHS complaints advocacy service – free, independent and confidential help.

6. Escalating your complaint

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We hope that if you have a complaint, you will use our practice complaints procedure and that we are able to find a resolution internally. This will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. This does not affect your right to approach external bodies if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us, or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation. You may choose to contact:

NHS England (for NHS treatment complaints)
NHS England Customer Support Centre, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT
Telephone: 0300 311 2233 (Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, excluding English Bank Holidays)
Email: England.contactus@nhs.net

Your local Integrated Care Board (ICB)
If you would rather not go directly to your practice and your treatment is provided by the NHS, you can contact your local ICB, which is responsible for NHS dental services. You can find our local ICB via the NHS website.

Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP
Telephone: 0345 015 4033
Email: www.ombudsman.org.uk

Dental Complaints Service (for private dental treatment complaints)
Stephenson House, 2 Cherry Orchard Road, Croydon CR0 6BA
Telephone: 020 8253 0800 (Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm)

General Dental Council (professional standards regulator)
37 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8DQ
Telephone: 0845 222 4141 or 020 7887 3800
Email: www.gdc-uk.org

Code of Practice for Patient Complaints

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In this practice we take complaints very seriously 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 patients’ concerns in a caring and sensitive way.

The person responsible for dealing with any complaint about the service that we provide is Katie McAteer , the practice Complaints Manager.

If a patient complains by telephone or in person, we will listen to their complaint and offer to refer him or her to the Complaints Manager immediately. If the Complaints Manager is not available at the time, then the patient will be told when they will be able to talk to the Complaints Manager and arrangements will be made for this to happen. The member of staff will make a written record of your complaint and provide the patient with a copy as well as passing it on to the Complaints 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 e-mail it will be passed on immediately to the Complaints Manager.

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 as soon as possible, normally within 3 working days. We will offer to discuss the complaint at a time agreed with the patient, asking how the patient would like to be kept informed of developments, for example, by telephone, face to face meetings, letters or e-mail. We will inform the patient about how the complaint will be handled and the likely time that the investigation will take to be completed. If the patient does not wish to discuss the complaint, we will still inform them of the expected timescale for completing the process.

We will seek to investigate the complaint speedily and efficiently and we will keep the patient regularly informed, as far as is reasonably practicable, as to the progress of the investigation. Investigations will normally be completed within 28 Days.

When we have completed our investigation, we will provide the patient with a full written report. The report will include an explanation of how the complaint has been considered, the conclusions reached in respect of each specific part of the complaint, details of any necessary remedial action and whether the practice is satisfied with any action it has already taken or will be taking as a result of the complaint.

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 referred to:

Private Treatment Complaints:
Dental Complaints Service
The Lansdowne Building,
2 Lansdowne Road, Croydon, CR9 2ER
Tel: 08456 120 540
www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk

Professional Conduct Complaints (the dentists’ registration body):
General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street, London W1M 8DQ

Complaints handling policy