Complaints Procedure

In this practice, we take complaints very seriously indeed 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.

We aim 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 customers’ concerns in a caring and sensitive way.

1. The person responsible for dealing with any complaint about the service which we provide is Dr Imran Uddin, Principal Dentist.
2. If a patient complains on the telephone or in person, we will listen to their complaint and offer to refer him or her to the Principal Dentist immediately. If the Principal Dentist is not available at the time, then the patient will be informed when they will be able to talk to the Principal Dentist, and arrangements will be made for this to happen. The member of staff will take brief details of the complaint and pass them on to the Principal Dentist. 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.
3. If the patient complains in writing or by email, it will be passed on immediately to the Principal Dentist, Dr Imran Uddin.
4. 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.
5. We will acknowledge the patient’s complaint in writing and enclose a copy of this code of practice within three working days.
6. We will seek to investigate the complaint within ten working days of receipt to give an explanation of the circumstances which led to the complaint. If the patient does not wish to meet us, then we will attempt to talk to them on the telephone. If we are unable to investigate the complaint within ten working days, we will notify the patient, giving reasons for the delay and a likely period within which the investigation will be completed.
7. We will confirm the decision about the complaint in writing immediately after completing our investigation.
8. 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.
9. If patients are not satisfied with the result of our procedure, then a complaint may be made.

How to Complain

We hope that most issues can be resolved easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your issues cannot be sorted out this way and you wish to make a complaint, you can do so verbally by speaking to one of our team members, who will direct you to our complaints lead, or you can write to us by letter or email.

You can complain:

• By telephone on 01612 225 730.
• By email at bury@eyeanddentalclinic.com.
• By letter to 110 Ainsworth Road, Bury, BL8 2RS, Lancashire.
• In-person.

Complaints made verbally

If you wish to make a complaint over the phone or in person, we will listen to your complaint and offer to refer you to our complaints lead. If they are unavailable, the staff member will take your details and a brief explanation of the complaint to pass on. Your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days.

Complaints made via email or letter

Any letters or emails regarding a complaint will be immediately passed to our complaints lead. Your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days.

Investigations

We will contact you to discuss your complaint unless it can be resolved easily. Any complaints involving clinical care will be referred to the treating dentist unless you request that this not happen.

We will then investigate your complaint and will aim to have a response for you within twenty working days. If it is not possible to resolve this within that timeframe, we will inform you and let you know when it is likely to be resolved.

Once we have made a decision regarding your complaint, we will inform you using your preferred contact method.

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.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

Please note that we strictly adhere to the rules of clinical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed unless they are incapable (because of physical and mental illness) of providing this.

Time limits for opening complaints

Complaints should be made within 12 months of the incident or when the complainant first discovered the problem.

Complaints to external bodies

We hope you will use our practice complaints procedure if you have a concern. We believe this will give us the best chance of correcting whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. However, this does not affect your right to complain to an external body if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or are dissatisfied with our investigation’s result.

The CQC

The Care Quality Commission don’t get involved with complaints about the practice. They do, however, encourage giving feedback on service providers.

• To send feedback to the CQC, please go to: https://www.cqc.org.uk/give-feedback-on-care.
• Telephone: 03000 616 161 (Mon to Fri, 8.30 am – 5.30 pm Excluding Bank Holidays).

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

• Telephone: 03450 154 033.
• Website: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk.

Private Patients

The Dental Complaints Service handles complaints made by private patients.

• Telephone: 02082 530 800 (Mon-Fri, 9 am-5 pm).
• Website: https://dcs.gdc-uk.org/.

The GDC

• Telephone: 08542 224 141 or 02078 873 800
• Website: https://contactus.gdc-uk.org/Complaint/Process/13.