Complaints Policy

Why Have a Complaints Policy and Procedure?

Symbiotyka Clinics considers complaints as:

A way to learn from our mistakes

Improve for the future

Correct the problem for the person who made the complaint

Handling complaints well:

Shows how committed we are to our patients

Shows how committed we are to providing the best possible service

Helps us find how and why things went wrong

Helps us fix them

Helps us to avoid making the same mistakes twice

This is the reason why:

We created this complaints procedure clear and easy to use

We publicise the existence of our complaints procedure so that you know how to contact us when things go wrong

We make sure everyone at Symbiotyka Clinics knows how to handle complaints

We make sure all complaints are treated fairly and quickly

We make sure to resolve the problems that may have occurred

A complaint can be received verbally, by phone, by email or in writing.

Confidentiality

All complaint information will be handled sensitively.

Responsibility

Overall responsibility for this policy and its implementation lies with the management committee.

Review

This policy is reviewed regularly and updated as required. Adopted on (date xxxxxxxxxx)

Last reviewed (date TBC)

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE OF SYMBIOTYKA CLINICS

Written complaints may be sent in a written form to:

Symbiotyka Ltd

Dairy House

Norton Ferris

Wiltshire

BA12 7HT

Or by email - dental@symbiotyka.co.uk

Guarantee Cases

Sometimes, complaints fall into guarantee cases. In order to claim for the guarantee, the patients must respect the terms and conditions that they have signed.

Failure to respect those rules invalidates the guarantee

The decision to carry out remedial treatments is made by the management team (chief dentists and Switzerland) who will decide, together, to trigger the guarantee, after seeing the patient.

Monitoring and Learning from Complaints

Complaints are reviewed annually to identify any trends which may indicate a need to take further action.

Receiving Complaints

When Symbiotyka Clinics receive a complaint, the person who receives it:

• Writes down the details and nature of the complaint

• Writes down the contact details

• Explains to the patient how the procedure will take place

• When needed, the person would ask the patient to write an email describing the exact problem or what he is feeling, in his own words.

Resolving Complaints

In many cases, a complaint is easily resolved by one of our after care representatives in a timely manner. He or she will pass on the information to the person(s) in charge of the after care service.

We distinguish three levels of complaints according to their treatment.

In all three cases, upon receiving the complaint, the person(s) in charge of the after care service records it in the complaints log.

Level 1 concerns those that can be resolved immediately by the person receiving the complaint and the complaint is not related to dental treatment. Example: significant delay of the appointment, no driver at the airport, etc.

In this case, it is simply required to record the complaint in the complaints log.

Level 2 concerns the complaints that can be resolved immediately by the person receiving the complaint and that are related to dental treatment. Example: healing cap lost, problem with temporary denture or crowns, etc.

In this case, after recording the complaint in the complaints log, an email has to be sent to the dentist to inform him.

Level 3 refers to more complex cases. Whether the complaint has been resolved or not, the complete information is passed simultaneously to the appropriate doctor(s) who treated the patients as well as the chief dentists and the managers immediately upon receipt.

Complaints should be acknowledged by the managers handling the complaint within 24 hours. The acknowledgement should say who is dealing with the complaint and when the person complaining can expect a reply.

Ideally complainants should receive a definitive reply within 48 hours. If this is not possible because for example, an investigation has not been fully completed, a progress report should be sent to the complainant with an indication of when a full reply will be given.

Whether the complaint is justified or not, the reply to the complainant describes the action taken to investigate the complaint, the conclusions from the investigation, and any action taken as a result of the complaint.