Complaints Policy (NHS and Private) at smile dental care

In this practice we take complaints very seriously and try to ensure that all our 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 customers’ concerns in a caring and sensitive way.

  1. The person responsible for dealing with any complaint about the service that we provide is Zoeb Kapadia 
  2. If a patient complains on the telephone or at the reception desk, we will listen to their complaint and try to resolve the complaint immediately.
  3. If receptionists are unable to resolve the matter, we will offer to refer him or her to the practice manager to discuss any concerns and the practice manager will notify any staff involved.  
  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. If their normal dentist is not available at the time, then the patient will be told when they 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 and pass them on. If we cannot 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.
  5. If a complaint is made in writing, the letter will immediately be passed to the Practice Manager. The Practice Manager will either invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint, or alternatively write to you with his response to the complaint, within a reasonable amount of time of sending you the acknowledgement letter. 
  6. Within a week of any meeting, Saadia Khan/Zoeb Kapadia will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions she has agreed with you. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange to review the decision. 
  7. We will write to you within 14 working days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons. 
  8. We will confirm the decision about the complaint in writing immediately after completing our investigation.
  9. Proper and comprehensive records are kept of any complaint received. This can be found in the complaints folder in the office filing cabinet.


Private patients: 

Dental complaints service is a team of trained advisors who aim to help private dental patients and dental professionals settle complaints about private dental care fairly and efficiently. They provide a free and impartial service funded by the General Dental Council, the organisation that regulates dental professionals in the UK. Please see the following website for more information:

http://www.gdc-uk.org/sites/dcs/Pages/default.aspx or you can contact them on: You can call the Dental Complaints Service on 020 8253 0800 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)

All Patients

General Dental Council: 
37 Wimpole Street, London, W1g 8DQ. 
Email: information@gdc-uk-org

Care Quality Commission: 
CQC National Customer Service Centre 
Citygate, Gallowgate 
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA 
Telephone: 03000 616161 
Fax: 03000 616171

Ombudsman

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Website: http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/about-us/contact-us

Telephone: 0345 015 4033.

The Ombudsman makes final decisions on complaints that have not been resolved by the NHS in England and UK government departments and some other UK public organisations. If they decide that the organisation has got things wrong, they may make recommendations for it to put them right. This can include explanations, apologies and recommendations for the service to learn and improve.