Complaints procedure

At Vita Dental Spa our aim is to give the best possible care and treatment to our patients. We welcome feedback and comments about our services and aim to deal with any concerns or complaints promptly, courteously and efficiently. We consider all feedback, comments, concerns and complaints as a positive way of looking at what we do and making changes to improve our service to patients. All views will be taken seriously and our procedures are in line with NHS Complaints Procedure.

Responsibilities

The practice feedback and complaints officer is Patricia Barry Murphy.

How to make a complaint

You can complain in person, by phone or in writing. Please note that if you email other people may be able to see your personal information.

If you can, first talk to a member of staff involved in your care. We will try to sort out the complaint on the spot.

If you are unable to talk to the member of staff involved with your care, ask to speak to Patricia Barry Murphy our complaints officer.

If you don’t want to complain to anyone in the practice, you can contact the Complaints and Claims Manager for NHS Tayside or the Patient Advice and Support Service for advice.

When making your complaint, please give:

– your full name and address (and the patient’s name if acting on behalf of someone else);

– as much helpful information as possible about what happened, where it happened and when, and what you would like to have done about it;

– your preferred method of communication; and

– consent from the patient, if you are making the complaint on behalf of the patient.

What we will do

We will try to sort out the complaint on the spot.

If we cannot do this we will write to you within 3 working days. In the letter we will:

– tell you what action we will take to look into your complaint;

– offer you the chance to talk to a member of staff;

– let you know when we will respond (normally within 20 working days);

We will keep information about your complaint confidential. We may have to talk to other staff or show them your dental record. If you do not want us to share information from your dental record, please tell us when you make your complaint, but bear in mind this may make it more difficult to look into your complaint.

We will keep a record of your details and your complaint and use it to help improve our services, and for statistical purposes.

Our response

We will investigate your complaint and write to you with a full response within 20 working days of receiving your complaint. If we are unable to keep this timescale we will let you know and tell you why.

Our response will let you know the result of the investigation. We will:

– show that we have looked into your complaint and reply to all the points you make;

– offer an apology if the thing have gone wrong;

– explain what we will do to stop what you have complained about happening again;

– if necessary, explain why we cannot do anything more about some parts of your complaint;

– offer you the chance to talk to a member of staff if there is anything in the letter you do not understand;

– include information about the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman in case you are unhappy with our response or the way we handled your complaint and you wish to take things further.

Complaints about private treatment

We follow the same complaints procedure for complaints about private treatment. However, if you require help to make your complaint, or if you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, the Dental Complaints Service (a department of the General Dental Council) offers a complaint resolution service for private dental patients and dentists.

The Dental Complaints Service (08456 120 540) for complaints

About private treatment

37 Wimpole Street London,

W1M 8DQ (the dentists’ registration body)

Website: www.gdc-uk.org

Ashludie Hospital, Victoria Road

Monifieth, DD5 4HQ

The Healthcare Commission,
Finsbury Tower,
103-105 Bunhill Row,
London EC1Y 8TG
(www.healthcarecommission.org.uk)