Practice complaints procedure

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the dentists or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure. Our complaint system adheres to national criteria.

How to Complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, at the time they arise and with the person concerned.  If your problem cannot be sorted in this way 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 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 discovering 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 Helen Dolman our Practice Manager or Nick Flindall our Principal Dentist in order to discuss your concerns. He/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 Will Do

    We will acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days of 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 the permission to do so.  A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless that are incapable of providing this because of physical or mental illness or are a child under 16 years.

      Complaining to Dental Complaints Service

      We hope that, if you have a problem, you will make use of our practice complaints 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 does not affect your right to complain to the Dental Complaints Service, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.

      NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB) is committed to responding to patient needs and encouraging a culture that seeks and uses people’s experiences of care to improve the commissioning of services. They welcome your suggestions and feedback about both the services they commission and ICB provided services. They want to resolve any problems you may experience to help make local healthcare services more effective.

      Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and Complaints Service

      You can ask for advice, information or talk to them about a concern or complaint. PALS and complaints will work with you to try to resolve a difficulty or problem. They can discuss with you the best ways to resolve your concerns or problems and will agree with you what action to take for your individual circumstances. They can also signpost to other sources of help if needed. Your personal details remain confidential, unless you provide consent for them to share this. Information from PALS and complaints is also used anonymously to help improve services.

      If you have received particularly good service from any health service provider or you have any comments or suggestions to make, please let them know. This information will help them to keep improving their services.

      Please contact the PALS and complaints team by using the methods below for enquiries, compliments concerns, complaints or general feedback:
      Email: scwcsu.palscomplaints@nhs.net or by phone 0300 561 0250
      Or for formal complaints relating to Point of Delivery: england.southwestcomplaints@nhs.net

      The General Dental Council

      You may also like to contact The General Dental Council for more advice:

      The General Dental Council
      37 Wimpole Street
      London
      W1M 8DQ

      Tel. 020 7887 3800

      E-mail: Complaints@gdc-uk.org

      Denplan

      For those patients registered with this practice with Denplan can contact Denplan by telephone for advice:

      Tel. 0800 169 7220.