Complaints Handling Policy It
is the aim of this practice to ‘Have a Clear and Effective Complaints
Procedure’ by meeting the GDC ‘Standards for the Dental Team’ to meet the NHS
complaints requirements and deliver good practice in complaint handling.
We have appointed RAB Young as our ‘Responsible Person’.
The
practice has appointed a Complaints Manager, Carrie Biles, and our complaints
procedure is on display in all waiting rooms. A summary of our procedure
is also available to patients in our patient leaflet.
We
have published our complaints procedure on our website in line with GDC
advertising standards.
Feedback
and complaints handling framework
This
practice has developed a framework for managing complaints and feedback based
on these principles:
All
patient feedback is important to us
We
want to make it easy for patients to raise a concern or complain, if you need
to
We
follow a complaints procedure and keep patients informed
We
will try to answer all patient questions and any concerns you raise
We
want patients to have a positive experience of making a complaint
Patient
feedback helps us to improve our service
Recognising
complaints
Our
team are aware that complaints are any expression of dissatisfaction by a
patient (or their representative) about a dental service or treatment.
Complaints can be verbal or written and can be about any part of the service we
provide. All complaints must be logged internally, even if the complaint was
verbal and resolved within 24 hours.
Recording
complaints
All
complaints are recorded on an Event Record and also logged in our Event
Register. All correspondence or investigation records are stored with the
Record and Register. Complaint Records are treated as confidential at all times
and kept separate from clinical records. Only authorised persons have access to
the Complaints Records.
Handling
complaints
The
practice team is trained to resolve all complaints promptly, efficiently and
politely by following our Patient Complaints Procedure. The team responds to complaints in the time limits set by the Patient Complaints Procedure and
always provides constructive responses to complaints. The practice never
discriminates against a patient who has made a complaint.
Team
members cannot react defensively to a complaint but must listen carefully to a
patient who makes one whilst involving them fully in the process of managing
it. The team members will, to the best of their abilities, endeavour to meet
any outcomes the patient expects and offer sincere apologies when
appropriate.
If
a patient is not satisfied despite our best efforts to resolve the complaint,
they will be informed about other avenues that are open to them such as the GDC
Dental Complaints Service, NHS or the Ombudsman.
The
team are regularly trained in complaint handling and are involved in the
regular review of complaints and complaints procedures so that services,
policies and procedures can be continually improved.
Response
timescales
All complaints will be acknowledged and responded to by the practice within the
timescales detailed in the Patient Complaints Procedure.
We
keep patients informed of the status of the complaint during the investigation
stage and always aim to resolve the complaint within the timeframe specified in
our policies and procedures or as agreed with the complainant.
Online
reviews
The
practice appoints a team member to regularly check for online reviews. All
feedback, both positive and negative is acknowledged and we follow the
recommendations for dealing with poor reviews outlined in the Complaints,
Problems and Events Overview
Related
documents
This
policy should be read with the Patient Complaints Procedure.