PATIENT COMPLAINTS POLICY
(INFORMATION FOR PATIENTS)
Our aim is to provide you and your family with the standard of treatment you expect.
If you have a concern or complaint about any aspect of the Practice or the treatment or service you have received, please do not hesitate to let us know at once so that we can attempt to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
If you wish to register a formal complaint, please put it in writing by email or post and address it to the dentist concerned.
We will send you a written acknowledgement within three working days of the receipt of the letter and we will do everything we can to resolve your problem within ten further working days, with an explanation or the offer of a private, confidential meeting.
If you register a complaint, we will:-
* investigate the matter fully to discover exactly what went wrong
* arrange a confidential meeting with you to discuss the matter further if you wish
* ensure you receive a full apology if this is appropriate
* identify measures to ensure the problem does not occur again.
We have a duty to protect the confidentiality of all our patients. If a complaint is made by someone else on a patient’s behalf, we will require the patient’s written consent in order to act on the complaint (this does not apply to patients under the age of 16 years).
All your views, good or otherwise, are always welcome, as they help us to maintain our excellent standards of treatment and service provision.
In the unlikely event that you do not feel your complaint has been dealt with satisfactorily within the Practice, you have the right to ask the Healthcare Commission to review your case within six months of your original letter of complaint. They can be contacted on
0845 601 3012 or at : The Healthcare Commission, FREEPOST NAT 18958, Complaints Investigation Team, Manchester M1 9XZ. You can visit their website on:-
www.healthcarecommission.org.uk