Complaints Policy
palm dental

At Palm Dental our goal is to ensure patient satisfaction by meeting your expectations for care and service
while resolving any complaints efficiently, effectively, and courteously. We take complaints very seriously,
conducting thorough and fair investigations while maintaining strict confidentiality. We reflect and learn
from complaints to continually improve our care and service. We guarantee that patients will not face
discrimination for making a complaint, and we are always available to answer any questions you may have
about our policy.

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from our practice or any of the staff
working at this practice, please let us know as soon as possible to allow us to investigate and address your
concerns promptly. We operate a practice complaints procedure for dealing with complaints. Our complaints
system meets national criteria.

How to complain

We hope that most problems can be resolved easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the
person concerned. If your problem cannot be resolved this way and you wish to make a written complaint,
we will acknowledge your complaint within three working days, and will aim to provide a full response in
writing as soon as practical. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint within
12 months of the incident that caused the problem.

Complaints should be addressed to:

Dr Michaella Karim, Palm Dental, 16 Chatsworth Parade, Petts Wood, BR5 1DF – Complaints Manager
or
Dr Sejil Karim, Palm Dental, 16 Chatsworth Parade, Petts Wood, BR5 1DF – Deputy Complaints Manager

Alternatively, you can email the Complaints Manager on info@palmdental.co.uk. You may ask for an
appointment in order to discuss your concerns. We will explain the complaints procedure to you and will
ensure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible
about your complaint.

What shall we do:

We shall acknowledge your complaint within three working days and aim to investigate your complaint
within ten working days of the date when you raised it with us. We shall then be in a position to offer you a
written explanation of the outcome, and a meeting with the people involved if you would like to discuss the
results of the investigation. If the complaint investigation takes longer than anticipated, the Complaints
Manager or Deputy Complaints Manager will contact you at least every ten working days to keep you
informed of the reason for any delays, the progress of the investigation and the proposed date the
investigation will be completed. When we investigate your complaint, we shall aim to:

– Find out what happened and what went wrong
– Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this
– Make sure you receive an apology where this is appropriate
– Identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again

Should a patient make a complaint or claim, we may need to provide information about the patient, and
treatment they have received, to insurers, indemnifiers or legal advisers.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

Please note that we keep strictly 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.

Complaining to the Dental Complaints Service

We hope that, if you have a complaint, you will make use of our practice complaints procedure. We believe
this will provide the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our
practice. However, this does not affect your right to complain to an independent body if you feel you cannot
raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.

For further advice, you should contact:
Dental Complaints Service
37 Wimpole Street
London
W1G 8DQ
Telephone: 020 8253 0800
(Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm)
Or
General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street
London
W1G 8DQ
Email: www.gdc-uk.org
Telephone: 0845 222 4141 or 020 7887 3800

Complaints and the CQC
The CQC do not get directly involved with complaints made to the practice. They do, however, encourage
giving feedback for service providers.
To send feedback to the CQC about us please go to:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/give-feedback-on-care
or Telephone: 03000 616161 Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm Excluding bank holidays

Approved By: Dr Michaella Karim, Dr Sejil Karim
Date Published: 01/07/2024