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 as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system adheres to national criteria.
How to complain
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out 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 because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:
What we shall do
We shall acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within ten working days of the date you raised it with us. We shall then be in a position to offer to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with those involved. In investigating your complaint, we shall aim to:
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 permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of physical or mental illness)
Complaining to the Primary Care Trust We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use 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 approach the Primary Care Trust, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us, or if you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation. You should contact the Primary Care Trust complaints manager for further advice at:
If you remain dissatisfied with the response to your complaint, you have the right to ask the Healthcare Commission to review your case. The Healthcare Commission is an independent body established to promote improvements in healthcare through the assessment of performance of those who provide services. You can contact the Healthcare Commission, Complaints Team, Peter House, Oxford Street, Manchester Ml 5AN or visit their website at www.healthcarecommission.org.uk
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How to complain
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out 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 because this will enable us to establish what happened more 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.
What we shall do
We shall acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within ten working days of the date you raised it with us. We shall then be in a position to offer to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with those involved. In investigating your complaint, we shall aim to:
- find out what happened and what went wrong;
- make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned; if you would like this;
- make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate;
- identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.
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 permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of physical or mental illness)
Complaining to the Primary Care Trust We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use 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 approach the Primary Care Trust, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us, or if you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation. You should contact the Primary Care Trust complaints manager for further advice at:
- Devon Primary Care Trust
Newcourt House
Old Rydon Lane
EXETER
EX2 7JU
- Somerset Primary Care Trust
Chard Office, Chataway House
Chard Business Park
Leach Road
Chard
SOMERSET
TA20 1FR
If you remain dissatisfied with the response to your complaint, you have the right to ask the Healthcare Commission to review your case. The Healthcare Commission is an independent body established to promote improvements in healthcare through the assessment of performance of those who provide services. You can contact the Healthcare Commission, Complaints Team, Peter House, Oxford Street, Manchester Ml 5AN or visit their website at www.healthcarecommission.org.uk
back to information for patients >
