Policies | Church End Dental

Complaints Handling Policy

In our 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 courteously and promptly so that the matter is resolved as quickly as possible, often verbally and without the need to write in.

We will do our best to achieve our patients’ satisfaction by local resolution within the surgery. So, your first point of contact should be us.

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.

The person responsible for dealing with any complaint about the service that we provide is Dr Kaviani, our Complaints Manager. Please email dentist192@gmail.com.

If a patient complains on the telephone or at the reception desk, we will listen to their complaint and offer to refer him or her to the Complaints Manager immediately. If the Complaints Manager is not available at that 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
If the patient complains in writing, the letter will be passed on immediately to the Complaints Manager
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
We will acknowledge the patient’s complaint in writing and enclose a copy of this code of practice as soon as possible, normally within 3 working days
We will seek to investigate the complaint within 14 working days of receipt to give an explanation of the circumstances which led to the complaint. If the patient does not wish to meet us, then we will attempt to talk to them on the telephone. If we are unable to investigate the complaint within 14 working days, we will notify the patient, giving reasons for the delay and a likely period within which the investigation will be completed
We will confirm the decision about the complaint in writing immediately after completing our investigation or where appropriate speak to them on telephone
We keep proper and comprehensive records of any complaint received
In the unlikely event that patients are not satisfied with the result of our procedure, then a complaint may be made to:

For private treatment

The Dental Complaints Service

Telephone: 020 8253 0800

(Monday - Friday: 9am - 5pm)

Email: info@dentalcomplaints.org.uk

Write to: Dental Complaints Service

Stephenson House

2 Cherry Orchard Road

Croydon CR0 6BA

They have trained and impartial advisors. This is their official advice taken from their website:

“We will always suggest that you contact your dental professional and give them the opportunity to resolve matters first. In our experience, they often welcome the opportunity to deal with any concerns that you may have”.

For NHS treatment

NHS England,

PO: 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT

Tel: 0300 311 22 33

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk

Customer helpline: 0345 015 4033

Monday – Friday: 8:30am - 5:30pm

Payment Policy

It is our practice policy to give patients full information about the cost of their dental work before any treatment is undertaken or as soon as it is verbally confirmed. A list and explanation of NHS charges and the cost of our Independent fees is provided as a computer generated quote. For clarity, these are listed separately. If you are unsure, please ask reception.
The NHS charges are national prices set by the government. We have no control over these. Independent prices depend on the surgery. They can vary from case to case, depending on complexity and variation of the treatment carried out by the dentist.
A written estimate and treatment plan will be provided for all dental treatments as soon as the dentist is confident about the specific treatment that needs to be carried out. In case of any variations, you will be informed. If you are not sure about any of the items, please ask your dentist or reception to give you a full explanation.
We offer patients a range of payment options, depending on their needs. You may pay for your dental care by cheque, cash, credit or debit card, or monthly instalments with private dental care schemes such as Denplan. If you would like more information about Denplan, please let the reception know. We can accept all qualifying insurance forms for your reimbursement.

We try to make payment as straightforward as possible. Depending on the type of work and the amount of the quotation, our normal policy is that all patients are:

1. Either asked to pay a proportion on each visit

2. Patients are asked to pay a deposit prior to the commencement of treatment and the balance on completion

3. Patients are asked to pay on the day of completion of treatment

4. A combination of the above options. The reception will advise you accordingly

All treatments have to be paid in full and balance cleared before the end of the treatment. All outstanding balances should be paid on the day of the last appointment at the latest. The fitting of any laboratory work may be postponed, if balance is not paid fully before the completion of the work
Under NHS regulations, we are allowed to request that all the amount due for the whole treatment course to be paid for, at the first appointment, before any work has even started
All unpaid balances will be referred to debt collection agency to be referred to the local claims court

Patients’ Acceptance Policy

All treatment that is necessary in your dentist’s opinion to protect and maintain good oral health is available on the NHS. If you want to have any cosmetic dental treatment, such as tooth whitening or any other cosmetic treatment, this will be done privately. You should ask your dentist how much this will cost in addition to charges for NHS treatment.

Our dental hygienist services are available on private only basis.

We are:

Currently accepting new fee paying NHS patients - This means the practice is taking new patients for treatment under the NHS contract. If treatment is required, we will give you both options for NHS and private treatment and their comparative costs. Once we have a treatment plan made for you, we will give you a written copy. If any treatment proposals should need changing which in turn would change the cost, we will discuss these with you prior to application of treatment. We also have a display of NHS and private price lists available on request.
Accepting new charge exempt adults (over 18s):

This refers to patients who are for example:

Aged 18 in full-time education
Pregnant or have had a baby in the 12 months before treatment starts
Patients are getting or your partner gets income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance or pension credit guarantee credit or UC
Patients are entitled to or named on a valid NHS tax credit exemption certificate
Patients are named on a valid HC2 certificate and proof of the exemption will be required at each visit

3. Accepting new children aged 0-18 years for NHS treatment.

4. Denplan patients: There is an initial assessment to make sure that you are dentally fit before you can be accepted on Denplan. All initial assessments and treatment will need to be carried out and paid for before we can sign a Denplan contract.

You can register on a fully private basis if you wish at any time.

Where we don’t have NHS capacity, emergencies may be taken on a private basis only.

Disability Policy

We do have a mobile ramp for wheelchair access and our surgery doors are wide enough for wheelchairs to pass through. We do have an induction loop at reception. We don't have a disabled toilet. Guide dogs are allowed in the surgery.

Where necessary, if we cannot accommodate a patient with a mental or physically disability for any dental treatment, we will make a referral to the dental community service.

Data protection & GDPR Policy

Keeping your records

This practice complies with the 1998 Data Protection Act and this policy describes our procedures for ensuring that personal information about patients is processed fairly and lawfully.

What personal data do we hold?

To provide you with a high standard of dental care and attention, we need to hold personal information about you. This personal data includes:

Your past and current medical and dental condition; personal details such as your age, National Insurance number/NHS number, address, telephone number and your general medical practitioner
Radiographs, clinical photographs and study models
Information about the treatment that we have provided or propose to provide and its cost
Notes of conversations or incidents about your care, for which a record needs to be kept
Records of consent to treatment
Correspondence with other health care professionals relating to you, for example in the hospital or community services

Why do we hold information about you?

We need to keep comprehensive and accurate personal data about our patients in order to provide them with safe and appropriate dental care. We also need to process personal data about you in order to provide care under NHS arrangements and to ensure the proper management and administration of the NHS.

How we process the data?

We will process personal data that we hold about you in the following way:

Retaining information

We will retain your dental records while you are a practice patient and after you cease to be a patient, for at least eleven years or, for children, until age 25, whichever is the longer.

Security of information

Personal data about you is held in the practice’s computer system or in a manual filing system or both. The information is not accessible to the public. Only authorised members of staff have access to it. Our computer system has secure audit trails and we back up information routinely.

Disclosure of information

To provide proper and safe dental care, we may need to disclose personal information about you to:

Your general medical practitioner
The hospital or community dental services
Other health professionals caring for you
NHS payment authorities
The Inland Revenue
The Benefits Agency, where you are claiming exemption or remission from NHS charges
Private dental schemes of which you are a member

Disclosure will take place on a ‘need-to-know’ basis. Only those individuals or organisations who need to know in order to provide care to you or in order to ensure the proper administration of government (whose personnel are covered by strict confidentiality rules) will be given the information. Only the information that the recipient needs to know will be disclosed.

In very limited circumstances or when required by law or a court order, personal data may have to be disclosed to a third party not connected with your health care. In all other situations, disclosure that is not covered by this Code of Practice will only occur when we have your specific consent.

Where possible, you will be informed of these requests for disclosure.

Access

You have the right of access to the data that we hold about you and to receive a copy. Access may be obtained by making a request in writing and the payment of a fee of up to £10 (for records held on computer) or £50 (for those held manually or for computer-held records with non-computer radiographs). We will provide a copy of the record within 40 days of receipt of the request and fee (where payable) and an explanation of your record should you require it. The principal may waive all fees.

If you do not agree

If you do not wish personal data that we hold about you to be disclosed or used in the way that is described in this Code of Practice, please discuss the matter with your dentist. You have the right to object, but this may affect our ability to provide you with dental care.

We are registered with ICO.

Our Sustainability and Environmental Policy

At Church End Dental Centre, we recognize that our actions can impact the environment and that we are responsible for minimising that impact. We are committed to promoting sustainability in our operations and reducing our environmental footprint. Our sustainability policy outlines our commitments to sustainability and the measures we will or have taken to achieve them.

Our policy consists of but not limited to the following points:

· We reduce our energy consumption by turning off lights and equipment when not in use and using energy-efficient appliances. We have installed motion sensors for the lights in the communal areas. Our computers are programmed to switch off at night automatically to save energy. Our printer and scanners have auto-switch off when not in use.

· We reduce our water consumption by using low-flow fixtures and promptly fixing any leaks. We have fitted sensor taps in our staff and patients’ toilets.

· We have reduced our paper usage by minimizing the use of printed materials and by using digital communication and record-keeping whenever possible.

· We are now 95% paper-free practice. Paper is only used when necessary to carry out our patient duties. Paper is mainly used for patients that are unable to use digital technology or platforms.

· We have lowered the use of NHS paper-based stationery by 98%.

· All our communications are digital. We send all our appointments, reminders, and automated recalls digitally by text or email. All our referrals are via digital platforms.

· Our digital patient portal allows our patients to fill in their pre-appointment documentation online 24/7, reducing the need for paper by 100%.

· Where we have to use paper, we use recycled and eco-friendly varieties from suppliers with sustainably sourced products and with carbon neutral/low carbon footprint

· We have been using digital X-rays for the last 15 years. We do not use any chemicals for our X-rays.

· We recycle paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, and metal wherever possible and will dispose of hazardous and clinical waste appropriately according to Environment Agency and HTM01-05 guidelines.

· We minimise the use of toxic cleaning products and will use environmentally friendly alternatives wherever possible.

· All our surgeries are fitted with amalgam waste separators so that no amalgam is released into the drains.

· We will purchase environmentally sustainable products, including those made from recycled materials, wherever possible.

· We will promote the use of sustainable transportation methods by encouraging public transportation, carpooling, and cycling. We have installed a cycle stand outside of the surgery. Surgery’s transport links for staff and patients are excellent. We have a bus stop just outside the surgery. The tube station is a 3-5 minute walk. We are part of the cycle-to-work government scheme.

· We educate our staff and patients about sustainability and encourage them to participate in our sustainability initiatives.

· We promote the use of reusable and washable items where possible without compromising safety and a high standard of cleanliness.

· Where we cannot reuse materials such as PPEs and bibs, we source eco-friendly or biodegradable alternatives where available.

· We purchase products in bulk to reduce packaging waste.

· We source products locally wherever possible to reduce our carbon footprint.

· We reduce our waste by minimizing single-use items like plastic cutlery and packaging.

· We promote sustainability in our community by participating in local sustainability initiatives and events. We have sponsored trees locally and contributed to NHS Forest.

· We will use LED lighting wherever possible to reduce energy consumption.

· We will promote the use of reusable water bottles by our staff. All staff have been allocated a water bottle in practice to refill and use to reduce the need for plastic cups and bottles.

· We have placed water bottles in the older toilet cisterns to reduce water use without affecting the quality of the flush. And have installed dual flush where possible.

· We have installed hand driers in our toilets to stop using hand towels for hand drying.

· Our toilet paper is made from recyclable material.

· Our property is double-glazed.

· We use an electric supplier that produces most of their electricity via renewable sources. And that their Gas supply is fully carbon offset.

· We regularly service our boilers and have GAS safe certification. The heating is turned off during the night. We have temperature gauges throughout the practice. The thermostat is set between 16-20C. The heating is turned down or switched off where not needed.

· We limit the use of AC units to when cooling is absolutely necessary for summer, and PPEs make it uncomfortable for staff and patients. They are regularly serviced for the best efficiency.

· We recently installed a new energy-efficient heating tank, and temperatures are set according to the latest guidelines.

· We will encourage our suppliers to adopt sustainable practices and prioritize suppliers who demonstrate a commitment to sustainability.

· We will strive to purchase ethically sourced products with minimal environmental impact throughout their lifecycle.

· We will invest in high-quality, durable and energy-efficient equipment to reduce the need for frequent replacements and disposals.

· We will encourage staff to carpool or use public transportation for commuting to work. We have an electric car charger for staff. The majority of our staff have electric or hybrid cars.

· We will monitor and report on our greenhouse gas emissions and develop a plan to reduce them.

· We will consider implementing a rainwater harvesting system to reduce water consumption for toilet flushes, window cleaning and garden watering.

· We are committed to continually improving our sustainability performance and promoting a healthier, safer, and more sustainable future for our community and the environment.

· We will regularly review and evaluate our sustainability policies and procedures and update them as necessary.

· We will communicate our sustainability policy and progress to our stakeholders, including staff, patients, suppliers, and the community.

· We will use digital marketing and social media to reduce our reliance on printed marketing materials.

· We have commissioned an independent professional carbon assessor to calculate our carbon footprint. We aim to do all we can to minimise/reduce our carbon footprint. Where we cannot, we will offset our carbon footprint via a dedicated carbon offset programme to become carbon neutral.

· We will endeavour to achieve a recognised accreditation in Sustainability in due course.