Complaints Handling Protocol
Professional Registration
The General Dental Council (GDC) is the regulatory body of the dental profession in the United Kingdom. Their address is 37 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8DQ and their telephone number 020 7887 3800. Dr Hormoz Pourkavoos and staff adhere to the rules governing the profession by the GDC as set out in their publication Standards for the Dental Team. You can find out more about the GDC on their website www.gdc-uk.org.
Care Quality Commission
Stanhope Place Dental Practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Our registration number is 1-194020988.
Data Protection
Stanhope Place Dental Practice complies with the Data Protection Act 1998. It is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office as Stanhope Place Dental Practice, registration number Z8110118. Our practice data controller is Dr Hormoz Pourkavoos.
Patient Confidentiality
Our practice adheres to the standards for patient confidentiality as set out by our regulatory body the General Dental Council. The practice also abides by the rules and regulations of GDPR.
Practice Complaints Policy
In this practice we take complaints very seriously and try to ensure that all our patients are pleased with their experience of our service. When patients complain, they are dealt with courteously and promptly so that the matter is resolved as quickly as possible. This procedure is based on these objectives.
Our aim is to react to complaints in the way in which we would want our complaint about a service to be handled. We learn from every mistake that we make and we respond to customers’ concerns in a caring and sensitive way.
1) The person responsible for dealing with any complaint about the service which we provide is Julie our Complaints Manager.
2) If a patient complains on the telephone or at the reception desk, we will listen to their complaint and offer to refer him or her to the Complaints Manager immediately. If the Complaints Manager is not available at the time, then the patient will be told when they 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 or email will be passed on immediately to the Complaints Manager.
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, normally within 3 working days.
6) We will seek to investigate the complaint within 10 working days of receipt to give an explanation of the circumstances which led to the complaint. If the patient does not wish to meet us, then we will attempt to talk to them on the telephone. If we are unable to investigate the complaint within 10 working days we will notify the patient, giving reasons for the delay and a likely period within which the investigation will be completed.
7) We will confirm the decision about the complaint in writing immediately after completing our investigation.
8) Proper and comprehensive records are kept of any complaint received.
9) If patients are not satisfied with the result of our procedure then a complaint may be made to:
10) The Dental Complaints Service, The Lansdowne Building, 2 Lansdowne Road, Croydon, Greater London
CR9 2ER (Telephone: 08456 120 540) for complaints about private treatment
11) The General Dental Council, 37 Wimpole Street, London, W1M 8DQ
(Telephone: 0845 222 4141), the dentists’ regulatory body for complaints about