Complaints Policy

In this practice, we take complaints very seriously indeed. It is our aim to always to have satisfied patients, to meet your expectations of care and service and to resolve any complaints as efficiently, effectively and politely as possible.

We investigate them in a full and fair way and take great care to protect your confidentiality and try to ensure that all our patients are pleased with their experience of our service. We learn from our complaints to improve our care and service. We will never discriminate against patients who have made a complaint.

If you are not entirely satisfied with any aspect of our care or service, please let us know as soon as possible to allow us to address your concerns promptly. You can make a complaint to the practice via telephone, in person, by written letter or an email to ashleigh@woodwoolfstein.co.uk. If you have a complaint but do not feel comfortable discussing it over the phone with the reception staff or at the reception desk, please ask to be referred directly to our Complaints Manager Miss Ashleigh Heslop.

Alternatively, If you do not feel you can raise a complaint about your NHS service directly with us, you can address your complaint directly to NHS England at england.contactus@nhs.net with ‘For the attention of the complaints team’ in the subject line.

Miss Ashleigh Heslop is the Complaints Manager at the practice and will be your personal contact to assist you with any complaints. If your verbal or written complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction within 24 hours, the Complaints Manager will acknowledge it within 3 working days and will aim to provide a full response in writing as soon as practical.

If the Complaints Manager is unavailable, we will take brief details about the complaint and will arrange for a meeting or telephone call when the person is next available. We will keep comprehensive and confidential records of your complaint, which will be stored securely and only be accessible by those who need to know about your complaint.

If the complaint investigation takes longer than anticipated the Complaints Manger will keep you informed regarding the reason for the delay, the progress of the investigation and the proposed date it will be completed.

When the investigation has been completed, you will be informed of its outcome in writing and if appropriate invited to a meeting to discuss the results and any practical solutions that we can offer to you. These solutions could include replacing treatment, refunding fees paid, referring you for specialist treatments or other solutions that meet your needs and resolve the complaint.

We regularly analyse patient complaints to learn from them and to improve our services. That’s why we always welcome your feedback, comments, suggestions and complaints. If you are dissatisfied with our response to a complaint you can take it further, please see the contacts below.

Contacts

For private dental treatment, you can contact the GDC private dental complaints service within 12 months of the treatment or within 12 months of becoming aware of the issue by calling 020 8253 0800 or visiting www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk

If you are still unhappy with your NHS complaint, you can contact the Parliamentary Health Ombudsman (England): calling 0345 015 4033 or visiting www.ombudsman.org.uk

You can also contact The Care Quality Commission (CQC) who regulate private and NHS dental care services in England. They can take action against a service provider that is not meeting their standards.

The General Dental Council is responsible for regulating all dental professional. You can complain using their online form at www.gdc-uk.org or contact them on information@gdc-org.uk or by calling 020 7167 6000.