Boroughbridge Dental Practice | Dental Practice Ripon | Dentist North Yorkshire

Complaints Procedure

Code of practice for patient complaints

At our Ripon dental practice, we take complaints very seriously indeed and try to ensure that all patients are pleased with their experience of our service.

Any patient complaint is dealt with courteously and promptly so that the matter is resolved as quickly as possible. This procedure is based on these objectives.

Our Ripon dental practice aims to resolve complaints in the same way we would expect a complaint we might make about a service to be handled. We learn from every mistake that we make and we respond to patient’s concerns in a caring and sensitive way.

  1. The person responsible for dealing with any complaint about the service that we provide is Miss Elaine Buck.
  2. if a patient complains on the telephone or at the reception desk, we will listen to his or her complaint and offer to refer him or her to Miss Elaine Buck immediately. If Miss Elaine Buck is not available at the time then the patient will be told when she/he will be able to talk to the 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. 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, the letter will be passed immediately to Miss Elaine Buck.
  4. if a complaint is about any aspect of clinical care or associated charges, it will normally be referred to the dentist 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 as soon as possible (within two working days of the complaint being received) to explain the circumstances that led to the complaint. if the patient does not wish to meet us, then we will attempt to talk to him/her 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 can be completed.
  6. We will confirm the decision about the complaint in writing to the patient immediately after completing our investigation.
  7. Proper and comprehensive records are kept of any complaint procedure.
  8. LF patients are not satisfied with the result of our procedure, a complaint may be made to NHS, Denplan, Dental Complaints Service or GDC.

The General Dental Council, 37 Wimpole Street, London, W1M 8DQ.

www.gdc-org.co.uk

NHS England, PO BOX 16738, Redditch, 897 GB.