Code of Practice

This is a brief description of what this practice has done since we opened and what it will continue to do for the good of its patients.

At NHS Dentist, 355 North End Road, London SW6 1NW

Complaints are taken seriously and we train our staff to deal with complaints courteously. We will expect patients to make their complaint without insults or threats. Our aim is to restore your faith in the practice and to ensure you are happy with the outcome of your complaint.

In the first instance, please call us to speak to the person responsible for complaints Ms Chloe Wright. She will try to find a solution to any concern you may have. If we are busy to take your phone call, do not hesitate to e-mail us a request for a call back, to info@nhsdentist.com. We will endeavour to call you back as soon as we can.

We try to handle complaints in house with a face to face meeting. Should your concern be a clinical matter, we often offer an appointment with another dentist or our principal dentist so you can discuss the matter with a third party or one of the most senior people at the practice. We find this frequently provides patients the information or reassurance that they need. Should we be unable to settle your complaint in this way, then you may want to put your complaint in writing to our Customer Service manager, Chloe Wright who will then follow the formal complaints procedure route.

We will try to establish what you expect as an outcome of your complaint and we will agree a plan of action. Your care and treatment will not be compromised because you have made a complaint. If at any stage you feel concerned about this, please let us know.

If the complaint is received from the outset in writing, we will acknowledge your letter within three working days. We will endeavour to investigate the problem and write back to you within an agreed time frame, allowing for holiday periods and sickness. If the complaint takes longer to resolve, for any reason, we will keep you informed of progress to date and the reason for the delay. As mentioned above, we try and have a face to face meeting at the initial stage to establish the desired outcome of the complaint. We will contact you for such a meeting. In the event of you declining this, we will carry on according to the procedure without an initial meeting.

During the agreed period (or after the face to face meeting if appropriate), all parties involved in the complaint will be interviewed by the Complaints Manager. The notes, x-rays and any other information will be read and evaluated. The Complaints Manager will discuss the whole matter with any parties concerned and with the Principal dentist. You should be aware that we may need to disclose information about you to third parties in the event of a complaint e.g. solicitors, specialists, NHS England, medical indemnity organisation, etc.

Records are kept of any complaint. We monitor the reasons for complaints and we discuss them at staff meetings so we can learn from our mistakes. We also arrange training for any area of our work that we feel has been shown to need reinforcement following our regular complaints analysis e.g. understanding patient concerns.

Our complaints procedure is based on the National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009. Please follow our procedure in its entirety and if then you are dissatisfied with our response a complaint may be made to:-

• You can get help from PALS to make a complaint. www.pals.nhs.uk
• You can also engage with POhWER, who are an independent charity providing NHS Complaints advocacy www.pohwer.net
• NHS England Complaints Team, NHS England, Southside 4th Floor, 105 Victoria Street, SW1E 6QT (if you chose not to give the practice the opportunity to resolve your complaint, as you cannot complain to both the practice and NHS England)
• Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman at Millbank Tower, Millbank. London, SW1P 4QP.
• You can write to the CQC at Finsbury Tower, 103-105 Bunhill Row, London EC1Y 8TG

All dentists, therapists, hygienists and qualified dental nurses are regulated by the General Dental Council.