Our complaints procedure

It is our aim to always have satisfied patients, to meet your expectations of care and service, and to resolve any complaints as efficiently, effectively and politely as possible. We take complaints very seriously, investigate them in a full and fair way, and take great care to protect your confidentiality. We learn from complaints to improve our care and service, and we will never discriminate against patients who have made a complaint.

How to raise a complaint

If you are not entirely satisfied with any aspect of our care or service, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can address your concerns promptly. We accept complaints made verbally as well as in writing.

Vishal Patel is the Complaints Manager and Marcel Mehra is the Deputy Complaints Manager. They will be your personal contact for any complaint. You can send a complaint to Tenbury Dental Centre, 32 Teme Street, Tenbury Wells, WR15 8AA, call us on 01584 810514, or email the Complaints Manager at tenburydental@gmail.com.

If the Complaints Manager is unavailable, we will take brief details of the complaint and arrange a meeting at a time that suits you and the practice.

What happens next

We aim to resolve verbal complaints within 24 hours where possible. If you complain in writing, the Complaints Manager will send an acknowledgement letter within three working days and will aim to provide a full response in writing as soon as practical.

We keep comprehensive and confidential records of your complaint, stored securely and accessible only to those who need to know about it. If the investigation takes longer than anticipated, the Complaints Manager will contact you at least every ten working days to explain the reason for any delay, the progress of the investigation and the proposed date it will be completed.

When the investigation is complete, you will be informed of its outcome in writing. We will make our response clear, addressing each of your concerns as best we can, and you will be invited to a meeting to discuss the results and any practical solutions we can offer. These could include replacing treatment, refunding fees paid, referring you elsewhere for further treatment, or other solutions that meet your needs and resolve the complaint.

We regularly analyse patient complaints to learn from them and improve our services, so we always welcome your feedback, comments and suggestions.

If you are not satisfied with our response

You can take the matter further using the contacts below.

NHS patients: if you do not feel you can raise a complaint about an NHS service directly with us, you can contact NHS England Customer Support Centre on 0300 311 2233 or at England.contactus@nhs.net.

Private patients: the Dental Complaints Service, 37 Wimpole Street, London. Telephone 020 8253 0800 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or visit www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk. Contact them within 12 months of the treatment or within 12 months of becoming aware of the issue.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman: Millbank Tower, London. Telephone 0345 015 4033 or visit www.ombudsman.org.uk.

General Dental Council: telephone 0845 222 4141 or 020 7887 3800, or visit www.gdc-uk.org.