The complaints will be dealth with respectfully and without prejudice.

Patients will be kept informed of the time scale and at each stage of the handling of a complaint.

. Patients may raise concerns to any member of the staff,verbally or in writing.

. Complaints will be investigated in the first instance by the Practice Manager and/or Complaints Lead,and referred up the chain of management as necessary to reach satisfactory outcome for the complainant.

. The person investigating the complaint should gather the information or evidence necessary to fully understand the complainant’s concerns. This may include reviewing additional records or speaking to any witnesses.

. In all cses an acknowledgement will be raised in writing and provided to the complainant within three working days,together with a copy of the Complaint Procedure if this has not been obtained before.

. The reply will give an estimate of the time required to investigate the complaint  and reply again which would normally be within  twenty working days.

. A written response,including the result of investigations,will be issued to the patient at that time. If this is not possible,the Patient will be informed in writing  why, and a new time frame issued.

. The response will  substantiate  or not substantiate all points made and give  detailed outcome response  with all actions to be taken to resolve issues that have been raised

.  In the event of a continued disagreement  which cannot be resolved internally, the complainant is advised to approach an appropriate external authority,such as Dental Complaints Service(an impartial service that has been set up to resolve complaints about private dental care),CQC or the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Dental Complaints Service:37 Whimpole Street,London,W1G 8DQ,tel.02082530800,DCS.GDC-org.uk

Care Quality Commisison(CQC) :Newcastle-upon-Tyne,NE1 4PA,tel.03000616161,cqc.org.uk

The Local Government Ombudsman:PO BOx 4771,Coventry,CV4 0EH,tel.08456021983,advice@lgo.org.uk