Old Amersham Dental Clinic
Complaints Procedure
Old Amersham Dental Clinic sees complaints as an essential tool, helping us to identify weaknesses and improve our
customer care. If a patient with a complaint can be transformed into an advocate of the practice, we will have a
strong ally who will refer many others. The following is the goal of the Patient Complaint Procedure:
Tracey Jarrett will be the dedicated people in the practice to handle complaints.
If a patient complains on the telephone or at the reception desk, we will listen to his/her complaint and offer to refer
him/her to Dr Jarrett immediately (if available). If she is not available at the time, then the patient will be told when
he/she 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, detail them under non clinical notes on the computer
system and pass them to Dr Jarrett.
If we are unable to 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.
If the patient complains in writing the letter will be passed immediately to Dr Jarrett.
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.
On receipt of the written complaint Dr Jarrett will fill out a ‘Problem Record’, allocate a unique reference number and
record the complaint in the Problem Register.
The initial response to the complaint will be sent out within 4 working days of receipt, together with a copy of this
code of practice.
Dr Jarrett will investigate the complaint thoroughly; involving the treating dentist if there is one or the Principal if it
concerns a general matter. All staff associated with the complaint will also be interviewed.
Every dentist or hygienist involved must inform their medico-legal indemnity organisation of all but the most minor
complaints, or whenever a complaint seems to be escalating.
The patient will be informed of the outcome of the investigation and invited to attend the practice and meet Dr
Jarrett to discuss the issues and to offer solutions. The letter of explanation will be sent within ten working days. If
the patient does not wish to meet us, then we will attempt to talk to him/her on the telephone.
If we are unable to investigate the complaint within ten working days we will notify the patient, giving reasons for the
delay and a likely period within which the investigation will be completed and, if necessary, a progress report will be
sent to the patient every ten days.
We will confirm the decision about the complaint in writing to the patient immediately after completing our
investigation.
-2Once the patient is satisfied the Problem Record and the Problem Register will be signed off to show that the matter
is closed. A copy of the Problem Record should be stored with the clinical records for future reference.
If patients are not satisfied with the result of our procedure then a complaint may be made to:
The Dental Complaints Service (0845 612 0540)
The General Dental Council, 37 Wimpole Street, London, W1M 8DQ
The Healthcare Commission, Finsbury Tower, 103-105 Bunhill Row, London, EC1Y 8TG
Note: The majority of complaints can be resolved if there is a sincere apology from the dentist (if warranted). Taking
the approach that ‘The customer is always right’ can avoid lengthy and stressful disputes.
-3Initial Sample Letter:
Dear……………………………..
Thank you for you (phone call/letter, e-mail etc).
I was very sorry to hear that you are dissatisfied with our service. We take all complaints very seriously and will
investigate your complaint fully. After I have spoken to all of the staff members involved I will examine the
documentation and write to you again with my findings within 10 working days.
If you would like to discuss your complaint in more detail I would be please to speak to you at the practice as soon as
is convenient.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Tracey Jarrett (BDS London)
Principal Dentist/Practice Owner
OLD AMERSHAM DENTAL CLINIC
PROBLEM RECORD
Date Record Created: ______________________________
Reference No: ________________________
Name of staff member dealing with the problem:
Type of problem e.g. Patient Complaint/Supplier/Lab/Spillage/Other:
Name/s of the people involved:
Problem and immediate action/s taken (including dates and names):
Follow up actions to take with target date e.g. medical indemnity contacted, letter written to patient.
Photocopies of correspondence or relevant records and continuation sheets etc.
What can be done to stop this problem from happening again?
Date problem recorded on the Register: ________________________________
Date problem cleared/closed on: ____________________________
By: ____________________________
(Signature)
OLD AMERSHAM DENTAL CLINIC
PROBLEM REGISTER
Reference
No:
Type of problem
Name of person
or patient
involved
Person dealing
with problem
Target date
for completion
Signature
when
completed