Complaints Procedure

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. Our complaint system adheres to national criteria.

How to Complain

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 an 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:

• within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
• within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this i 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 Complaints Manager in order to discuss your concerns. She will explain the complaints procedure to you an will ensure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will help if you are as clear as possible about your complaint.

What We Shall Do

We shall 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 use 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.