Making a complaint about a dental procedure

The principles of good feedback and complaints handling for dental patients were developed jointly

by the following organisations: Association of Dental Administrators and Managers Association of Dental Groups British Association of Dental Nurses British Association of Dental Therapists British Dental Association British Orthodontic Society British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy Bupa Dental Care Care Quality Commission CFC Underwriting CODE Dental Complaints Service DDU Dental Protection Dental Technologists Association Department of Health and Social Care General Dental Council Health Education England LDC Confederation MDDUS mydentist NHS Digital NHS England Orthodontic National Group Orthodontic Technicians Association Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Simplyhealth Society of British Dental Nurses

This leaflet sets out what you can expect from your dental team if you would like to provide feedback or raise an issue with us

All of your feedback is important to us

All feedback is welcomed, such as what we did well, what we could do better, or any other feedback We will use your feedback to help us improve, and we will show you how we have learned You can use our complaints procedure to provide feedback. If you don’t want to do this, speak to a member of staff

We want to make it easy for you to raise a concern or complain, if you need to

Information about our complaints procedure is easy to find, without you having to ask

You can write to us or tell us in person .We will take your complaint seriously.

Our complaints information also tells you how to raise a complaint about us with another organisation

We follow a complaints procedure and keep you informed

We will tell you who is dealing with your complaint and when to expect a response. We will keep you informed of the progress of your complaint, including information on any delays .You should feel confident we are following our complaints procedure.

We will try to answer all your questions and any concerns you raise

It should be clear to you what happened, and why.

Our response should be empathetic in tone and coordinated .We will deal with your complaint in the time we said we would

We want you to have a positive experience of making a complaint

You should feel we have followed a clear procedure in the time we said we would . You should not be treated differently if you complain. You understand how the outcome of your complaint was reached .You feel you could raise a complaint again if needed, and could recommend our procedure to others. You feel we have listened to you and have acted in a fair way .You know what further help is available if you are unhappy with the way we have handled your complaint

Your feedback helps us to improve our service

We are learning all the time from your feedback and complaints. We show you how your feedback and complaints are listened to and acted upon. All members of our dental team are committed to improving the service we provide