At Olive Tree Dental, we aim to exceed our patients’ expectations by providing a personable yet professional approach to all our patients, whilst paying close attention to each patient’s treatment plan and patient journey. We try to ensure that all patients are pleased with their experience of our service, and we take any feedback or concerns raised seriously.
Whilst we strive for excellent service quality, we are always seeking to improve and enhance the technologies & treatment offering we have, so if you have any concerns regarding any aspect of your care, we want to hear from you.
We will do our utmost to ensure that we really listen, take prompt actions & resolve your concern to your satisfaction professionally.
We aim to respond to your concerns in a caring manner, having done a detailed investigation whilst adhering to all private & confidentiality measures that are in place.
The person responsible for dealing with any concerns about the service we provide in this practice is the Practice Manager/Complaints Officer, Amanda Ramsden.
If you share a concern or dissatisfaction by phone or at the reception desk, the staff member will listen carefully and aim to resolve the matter promptly. Should you wish to make a formal complaint, we will refer you to our Complaints Officer. You can contact the practice on 0118 975 7015 and ask for Amanda Ramsden. If she is not available, a member of the team will record your details and a brief outline of the issue to forward to her. Your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days.
If the person with whom you raise your concern is unable to resolve the issue for any reason, due to needing to investigate matters further, we will contact the Practice Manager, Amanda Ramsden. Should the Practice Manager be unavailable at the time, we will advise you when they are going to be available, and arrangements will be made for you to meet or speak with the Practice Manager, Amanda Ramsden (depending on your preference).
If, for any reason, the Practice Manager, Amanda Ramsden, is going to be unable to meet you or speak with you at a time that is convenient to you, we will arrange for the Practice Principal, Dr Ashmai Zyada, to take responsibility for dealing with your concern or complaint.
The team member with whom you first raised your concern will gather the details from you and pass these to the Practice Manager, Amanda Ramsden, so that they can familiarise themselves with your concern/feedback before meeting with you or speaking to you over the phone.
If you choose to write to us to express your concern rather than raising it verbally, your letter or email will be passed on to the relevant person immediately. You can send any written concerns via email to: [email protected] – kindly ensuring the subject line is entitled “FAO Practice Manager – Patient Concern / Feedback”.
Complaining on behalf of someone else
Please note that we strictly adhere to the rules of clinical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed unless they are incapable (because of physical and mental illness) of providing this.
If you prefer posting a letter to Olive Tree Dental, please post it to:
Olive Tree Dental
250 South Oak Way,
Lime Square,
RG2 6UG
We will acknowledge any concerns you raise in writing within 3-5 working days, and we will also include a copy of this Code of Practice with our response.
We will investigate your concern and report back within 10 working days of it being received. If we are unable to complete our investigations within 10 working days for any reason, we will notify you, providing you with reasons for the delay and the likely period within which the investigation will be completed.
We will confirm the outcome of the investigation and any decisions made in writing.
We will maintain comprehensive records of any concerns or complaints received on file.
We will aim to do everything we can in a timely manner in order to resolve your issue, concern or complaint to your satisfaction. If, for any reason, you are not satisfied with the outcome or the procedure, we will advise you of other means available to you for raising concerns.
Time Limits for Opening Complaints
Complaints should be made within 12 months of the incident or when the complainant first discovered the problem.
Complaints to External Bodies
We hope you will use our practice complaints procedure if you have a concern. We believe this will give us the best chance of correcting whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. However, this does not affect your right to complain to an external body if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or are dissatisfied with our investigation.
These are:
The CQC: The CQC don’t get involved with complaints about the practice. They do, however, encourage giving feedback on service providers.
To send feedback to the CQC, please go to: https://www.cqc.org.uk/give-feedback-on-care
Telephone: 03000 616161 (Mon to Fri, 8.30 am – 5.30 pm – excluding Bank Holidays)
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Telephone: 0345 015 4033
Website: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk
The Dental Complaints Service for complaints about private treatment.
Address: Address: 37 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8DQ
Phone: 0208 253 0800
Email: [email protected] | Website: https://dcs.gdc-uk.org/
The General Dental Council (GDC) (the clinicians’ professional regulator).
Address: 37 Wimpole Street, London, W1M 8DQ
Phone: 0207 167 6000
Email: [email protected]
The Care Quality Commission (the regulator for all of health and social care)
Address: Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne NE14PA
Phone: 03000 616161
Email: [email protected]
Financial Ombudsman: If you are dissatisfied with our response and your agreement is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge, but you must do so within six months of the date of the final response or 8-week holding letter.
Call the helpline on 0800 023 4567
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
If you would like to download a copy of our complaints procedure, please find the link here: Complaints Policy and Procedure
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