Lindley Dental takes any complaint made against any member of its staff, its service or its decisions very seriously. It is the policy of this practice to deal with complaints quickly and confidently.
If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the dentist or any of the staff working at this practice, please let us know. We operate a practise complaints procedure.
How To Complain
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, at the time that they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted in the was and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – because this will enable us to establish what has happened most easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint;
– within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
– within 6 months of discovery that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident.
Complaints about the treatment you received should be made to the dentist who normally sees you. Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with our Complaints Officer in order to discuss your concerns. She will explain the complaints procedure to you and will ensure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will help if you are as clear as possible about your complaint.
What we Shall Do
We shall acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days from the date when you raised it with us. We shall then be in a position to give you an explanation, or offer a meeting with those involved.
In investigating your complaint, we shall aim to:
– find out what happened and what went wrong
– enable you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this;
– ensure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate;
– identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.
Complaining On Behalf Of Someone Else
Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have that person’s permission to do so. A note signed be the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable of providing this because of physical or mental illness or a child under 16 years.
Complaining to Dental Services
We hope that, if you have a problem, you will make use of our practice complains procedure. We believe this will provide the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. However this doesn’t affect tour right to complain to the Dental Complaints service, if you feel that you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation. If you wish further advice you should contact:
Dental Complaints Service
The Lansdowne Road
Croyden
CR9 2ER Tel. 08456 120 540
Email; info@dentalcomplaints.org.uk
The General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street
london
W1M 8DQ
Tel. 020 7887 3800
Email; Complaints@gdc-uk.org
For patients who have a complaint regarding NHS treatment they can also contact their Primary Care NHS Trust.
For patients registered with this practise with Denplan can contact Denplan by telephone for advice;
Denplan
Tel. 0800 169 7220
