North Street Dental Policy for Patient Complaints

At North Street Dental we take complaints very seriously indeed and try to ensure that patients are pleased with all aspects of the service we provide. When a patient complains, we will endeavour to deal with the complaint courteously and promptly. The following points form the complaints procedure.

All staff members are empowered to deal with verbal complaints and will offer an apology that the patient’s expectations have not been met and give an explanation as to the circumstances for this occurring.

• If this explanation is acceptable to the patient, no further action will be taken. The patient should be encouraged to make a comment in the comments book or a suggestion if they feel we are not meeting their expectations. If this is not the case then the patient will be given an information sheet detailing how to make a formal written complaint to the practice.
• The practice manager will deal with all written complaints.

• Once a written complaint has been received we will acknowledge the complaint listing all areas of concern within 3 working days. The patient making a complaint will be given the opportunity to confirm these main areas of concern and make any additional comments.

• A full response to these areas of concerns will be issued within 20 working days of the initial response. Hopefully. this will be acceptable to the patient. If this is not the case then a meeting will be arranged to discuss any areas of concern.

• If this is unacceptable to the patient or the matter cannot be resolved then the patient will be advised to contact the appropriate bodies to further their complaint (please see below).

• North Street Dental will record all written complaints and their outcomes.
• North Street Dental will audit our complaints procedure on an annual basis and amend our systems as required to improve the service we provide. This procedure will be completed in a shorter time period if necessary.