Complaints procedure

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At our practice, we deeply care about our patients' experiences and strive to ensure that everyone feels valued and satisfied with our services. We genuinely welcome your feedback and take any concerns to heart. Each complaint is important to us, and we are committed to addressing it with compassion and efficiency so that we can resolve any issues as quickly as possible.

 

Our complaints procedure outlines the steps we take to handle your feedback thoughtfully.

 

If you have any concerns, please contact Claire Stott, who is dedicated to providing support and guidance throughout the process. Your voice matters to us, and we are here to help.

 

Complaints Made Verbally

 

If you would like to make a complaint over the phone or in person, we are here to listen. We can refer you to the complaints lead, Claire Stott. If she is unavailable, a staff member will take your details along with a brief explanation of your complaint to pass on. If we cannot resolve your verbal complaint within 24 hours, your complaint will be acknowledged in writing within three working days.

 

Complaints Made via Email or Letter

 

Any letters or emails concerning a complaint will be directed to the complaints lead. We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days and include a copy of our complaint procedure. This will provide you with initial information on how we will address your concerns and the timeframes for delivering a detailed response.

 

Complaints Made via Third Parties

 

Ossett Dental Care is committed to protecting patient data. If someone wishes to file a complaint on a patient's behalf, we require the patient's explicit consent to discuss or share any details related to the case. In England, the legal age for consenting to treatment is 16 years. Therefore, even for parents or guardians who wish to file a complaint regarding their child, who is 16 years old or older, we still need the patient's consent before we can respond to maintain patient confidentiality.

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Investigation

 

We will contact you to discuss your complaint unless it can be resolved quickly. Any complaints related to clinical care will be forwarded to the treating clinician for their input. They may respond separately since dentists and hygienists operate as self-employed professionals.

 

We will then investigate your complaint and will aim to have a response for you within 20 working days. If it is impossible to resolve this within that timeframe, we will inform you about the progress every 10 working days and let you know when it will likely be resolved.

 

It is possible that if a complaint regards clinical care or is complex, we may need to seek advice from our insurers, indemnifiers or legal advisors and, therefore, may need to share some of your information for this purpose.

 

Complaints to External Bodies

 

We encourage you to use our practice complaints procedure if you encounter an issue. We believe this approach offers the best opportunity to address any problems and allows us to improve our practice. However, this does not limit your right to escalate your complaint to an independent organisation if you feel uncomfortable raising it with us or are not satisfied with the outcome of our investigation.

 

Ossett Dental Care is an independent dental practice. Suppose you are unhappy with our services or would like an independent review of your concerns. In that case, as a private patient, you can contact the Dental Complaints Service, which addresses issues related to private dental care.

 

Dental Complaints Service

Telephone: 0208 253 0800

Website: https://dcs.gdc-uk.org/