Patient Information

Our Cancelation Policy

If you are unable to keep your appointment please let us know as soon as possible so that we can use the appointment for another patient on our waiting list. Missed appointments waste NHS time. If you miss more than 2 NHS appointments and give less than 24hrs notice, we may not be able to complete your treatment or offer you NHS care in the future. For private Hygienist appointments, 2 full working days’ notice must be given, otherwise the fee will still be charged for that appointment and you will lose your payment. (Which is payable in advance for the appointment.)

Confidentiality

Strict confidentiality of patient record and information is maintained at all times. However for time to time we may need to release these to the NHS Business Services Authority as part of our on-going review process. Patients’ records will not be passed onto any third party without the patients’ permission. Patients may apply for the disclosure of their own records. This will need to be in writing addressed to the practice manager. There may be a small administrative charge for this.

Treating our staff with courtesy and respect

Please note – we may refuse to treat patients who are violent, fail to pay their bills or refuse to cooperate during treatment. In this case we will inform the patient and NHS England that they will no longer be seen here.

Complaint or comment procedure

If you would like to comment about any aspect of our service please contact a member of the practice team who will be pleased to help. Should you have a complaint you would like to be addressed, please follow the procedure bellow.

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.

The person responsible for handling any complaint about the service which we provide is Jacqui McDonagh-Courtney, our practice manager.

If a complaint is dealt with at reception by telephone or in person but cannot be resolved, reception will offer a referral to the practice manager immediately. If the Practice Manager is not available at the time, then the patient will be told when they will be able to speak to her. The member of staff will take brief detail of the complaint and pass it on when she is next available. 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 make for someone else to deal with it.

If a complaint is received in writing, the letter or email will be passed on immediately to the practice 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.

You will receive an acknowledgement letter as soon as possible, normally within five working days.

We will investigate the complaint within ten working days and give an explanation of the circumstances which led to the complaint in writing. If we are unable to complete this within ten working days we will notify the patient, giving reasons for this delay and a new timescale of when it can be done by.

Fully detailed records are kept of any complaint received.

If the patient is not happy with the response they receive from us they can raise a verbal or written case with:

• Dental Team
• NHS Commissioning Board (London)
• Southside
• 105 Victoria Street
• London
• SW1E 6QT