25 May 2007 "Dental Complaints Service-one year on"

SERVICE LOGS 1,500-PLUS DENTAL COMPLAINTS IN FIRST YEAR.

The Dental Complaints Service, which helps resolve complaints about private dental care, has logged more than 1,500 complaints in its first year of operation, it was announced today.

By 15 May – a year since it opened its doors to complaints about any aspect of private dental care – the Service had logged and closed 1,559 complaints, many within days.

The Service received more than 5,000 enquiries on its local rate complaints hotline (08456 120540) over the year. Half of these 5,000-plus enquiries were about NHS dental services; these were redirected to the appropriate NHS contact. One in six callers contacted the Service at the suggestion of a dental professional.

The policy of the Service is to help resolve complaints as fairly, efficiently, transparently and swiftly as possible, but its success may also be due to the positive response it has received from dental professionals. On several occasions, dental professionals themselves have called the Service for advice about apparently intractable complaints.

Resolving complaints may involve recommending an apology to the patient, a refund of fees and/or a contribution by a dental practice towards the costs of remedial treatment. It may also involve helping the patient to understand that his or her complaint is unjustified.

“Resolving complaints successfully is a crucial test for a profession,” said Derek Prentice, who chairs the Service’s Advisory Board. The Service was set up by, but is independent of, the General Dental Council. “The Dental Complaints Service’s first year in operation has seen it address more than 1,500 complaints, from patients who would otherwise have been left with very few other options. This is an excellent record.”

Of the 1,500-plus complainants, over three-quarters were initially referred back to their dental practice’s own complaints procedures. Of those, fewer than one in five returned to the Dental Complaints Service with their complaint unresolved. Clearly, given the opportunity, dental professionals do resolve complaints successfully, although their complaints procedures may need to be given a higher profile within the practice.

If a practice cannot resolve the complaint, then the Dental Complaints Service’s advisers will help to sort it out informally with the patient and their dental professional. In 16 cases, complaints were referred further, to meetings facilitated by a panel of trained volunteers, the last step in the service’s attempts to resolve a complaint.