Complaints Procedure

At Old Oak Dental Practice we take complaints very seriously indeed and try to ensure that all 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 patients’ concerns in a caring and sensitive way.

  1. The person responsible for dealing with any complaint about the service we provide is Mr David Morgan.
  2. If a patient complains on the telephone or at the reception desk, we will listen to their complaint and offer to refer them to Mr David Morgan immediately. If Mr David Morgan is not available at the time, the patient will be offered an appointment with our practice manager. They will take brief details of the complaint and pass them on. If the patient does not wish to wait, or discuss the matter with the practice manager, then arrangements will be made for Mr David Morgan to contact the patient.
  3. If the patient complains in writing the letter will be passed on immediately to Mr David Morgan.
  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 two working days. We will seek to investigate the complaint within ten working days of the complaint being received to give an explanation of the circumstances which led to the complaint.
    In investigating your complaint, we shall aim to:

    1. find out what happened and what went wrong
    2. enable you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this;
    3. ensure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate;
    4. identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.
  6. If the patient does not wish to meet us, then we will attempt to talk to him or 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.
  7. We will confirm the decision about the complaint in writing to the patient immediately after completing our investigation.
  8. Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of confidentiality. If the patient is complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that they have the permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable of providing this because of physical or mental illness or are a child under 16 years.
  9. Proper and comprehensive reports are kept of any complaint received.
  10. We hope that, if the patient has a problem, they 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, if the patient feels they cannot raise their complaint with us or they are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation, then the patient may wish to seek further advice from:

For complaints about NHS treatment:

Hywel Dda Local Health Board
Primary Care Manager –Dental Conference Centre
Withybush General Hospital
Fishguard Road
Haverfordwest, SA61 2PZ

Tel: 01437 834401

NHS ‘Putting Things Right’
Hywel Dda Health Board
FREEPOST CT21/2
Haverfordwest, SA61 1BR

Tel: 01437 771279

For help with a complaint, you can contact your local health community council on:

Hywel Dda Community Health Council
Suite 5, 1st Floor, Ty Myrddin
Carmarthen, SA31 1BT

Tel: 01646 697610

For complaints about private treatment:

Health Inspectorate Wales
Welsh Government
Rhydycar Business Park
Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 1UZ

Tel: 0300 062 8163

Dental Complaints Service
Stephenson House
2 Cherry Orchard Road
Croydon, CR0 6BA

Tel: 08456 120 540

The General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street
London, W1M 8DQ

For complaints about Denplan treatment:

Denplan’s Complaints Handling Team
Denplan Limited
Denplan Court
Victoria Road
Winchester, SO23 7RG

Tel: 0800 169 7220