The service we offer
We have a very simple ethos: to act in your best interests and to treat you as we would treat a member of our own family. We have never worked any other way, and we have been fortunate to find patients recognising and appreciating the service we provide. Those of you who have been our patients elsewhere, are going to see no difference in the way you are treated in our practice.
What we do hope you'll notice though is the enviroment we have created both for you and for us. We have employed all the right people to create a practice that we are immensely proud of. We have taken an old building and completely rebuilt, redesigned and refurbished it, having only retained its outer walls and the roof trusses. Every nut, bolt, screw, wire and pipe are new. We have designed it using a team who only design dental practices, and the work has been carried out by builders who similarly only build dental practices. We have separated the reception desk from the waiting room to give patients more privacy. We have introduced decontamination processes for cleaning instruments that meet the Government's Best Practice standards in HTM 01-05. We have introduced heat recovery systems in the surgeries which retain the heat as we replace the air in the surgeries, making the enviroment in there healthier for you and us. The practice is air-conditioned throughout and meets current building regulations fully. The surgeries are kitted out with bespoke cabinetry and ADEC dental chairs and units. Our X-rays are all digital and include a DPT full mouth scanner. We have a ramp and wheelchair access including to our patient toilet, also kitted out with baby changing facilities. We have thrown our heart and soul into this practice, but it is still us, providing you with the same level of care you have experienced from us in our previous practice.
We hope you'll love what we have created.
Emergencies: what to do in the event of a dental emergency
Call our practice on 0117 990 2215. We are open Monday - Friday, 9am - 6pm.
Outside of these hours, call 0117 990 2215 and there will be advice on the answerphone message about what to do.
Privacy notice to patients
We will keep your records safely
This practice complies with the Data Protection Act (1998) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018. This means that we will ensure that your information is processed fairly and lawfully.
What personal information do we need to hold?
- Your past and current medical and dental condition; personal details such as your age, address, telephone number and your general medical practitioner
- Radiographs, clinical photographs and study models
- Information about the treatment that we have provided or propose and its cost
- Notes of conversations or incidents that might occur for which a record needs to be kept
- Records of consent to treatment
- Any correspondence relating to you with other health care professionals, for example in the hospital or community services.
Why do we hold this information?
We need to keep accurate personal data about patients in order to provide you with safe and appropriate dental care.
Retaining information
We are required to retain your dental records, X- rays and study models while you are a patient of this practice and after you cease to be a patient, for at least eleven years or until age 25, whichever is the longer.
Security
Your information is held on both the practice’s computer system and in a secure manual filing system. The information is only accessible to authorised personnel. Personal information will not be removed from this practice without the patients authorised consent. Your personal information is carefully protected by the staff at this practice. All access to information is held securely and can only be accessed by regularly changed passwords. Data is encrypted and computer terminals are closed if unattended.
Disclosing your information
In order to provide proper and safe dental care we may need to disclose your information to:- Your general medical practitioner
- The hospital or community dental services
- Other health professionals caring for you
- Private dental schemes of which you are a member.
Disclosure will take place on a ‘need-to-know’ basis, so that only those individuals/organisations who need to know in order to provide care to you and for the proper administration of Government (whose personnel are covered by strict confidentiality rules) will be given the information. Only information that the recipient needs to know will be disclosed.
In very limited circumstances or when required by law or a court order, personal data may have to be disclosed to a third party not connected with your health care. In all other situations, disclosure that is not covered by this Code of Practice will only occur when we have your specific consent. Where possible you will be informed of these requests for disclosure.
Should you at any time be unhappy with the way your data is being handled, please contact the practice manager Kay Hallows. Should this not resolve your complaint, you may contact the ICO (Information Commissioners Office), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow SK9 5AF.
Complaints Procedure – Information for Patients
Our aim is to ensure that you are happy with the service that we provide. Things don't always go to plan in life, and sometimes, this may result in you wanting to raise your concerns with us. To this end we have a complaints policy in place to help address and resolve your concerns.
If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from any of the dentists or staff, or any other matter regarding the practice, please let us know. We hope that most problems can be resolved easily and quickly, at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be resolved in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally, within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – as this will enable us to establish what happened most easily.
In this practice, we take complaints seriously to ensure that our service meets expectations. All complaints are dealt with courteously and promptly to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. Our aim is to react to complaints and learn from every mistake that we make. We respond to any concerns in a caring and sensitive way.
- The person responsible for dealing with any complaints about the service that we provide is Kay Hallows, one of the practice owners and our Complaints’ Manager.
- If we receive a complaint by telephone or in person, we will listen and offer to refer the individual to the Complaints’ Manager immediately. If she is not available at the time, we will arrange a convenient time for her to contact you. The member of staff will take brief details of the issue and pass it to the Complaints’ Manager. If the matter requires a more immediate response, we will arrange for a senior member of the dental team to deal with it.
- If we receive a complaint in writing or by e-mail, it will be passed immediately to the Complaints’ Manager.
- If a complaint is about any aspect of clinical care or associated charges, it will usually be referred to the dentist concerned, unless the individual does not want this to happen.
- We will acknowledge a complaint in writing and enclose a copy of this code of practice as soon as possible, normally within three working days. We will inform you about how the complaint will be handled and the likely time that the investigation will take to complete. If you do not wish to discuss the complaint further, we will still inform you of the expected timescale for completing the investigation.
- We will seek to investigate the complaint within 10 working days and, as far as reasonably practicable, we will keep you informed as to the progress of the investigation.
- When we have completed our investigation, we will provide you with a full written report, which will include an explanation of how we considered the complaint, the conclusions reached in respect of each specific part of the complaint, details of any necessary remedial action taken and whether further action will be taken.
- Proper and comprehensive records will be kept of any complaints received and the action we take. These records will be reviewed regularly to ensure that we take every opportunity to improve our service.
- If you are not satisfied with the result of our investigation, we will advise you to refer the complaint to:
- Dental Complaints Service
Stephenson House, 2 Cherry Orchard Road, Croydon CR0 6BA
Tel: 020 8253 0800
E-mail: info@dentalcomplaints.org.uk
This service is funded by the General Dental Council. - Patients registered with this practice under Denplan can contact them directly:
The Head of Customer Services
Denplan Limited, Denplan Court, Victoria Road, Winchester, SO23 7RG.
Tel: 0800 401 402
