BOS welcomes new universal complaints handling principles for dentistry

Six universal principles in complaints handling identified by a working group established in collaboration with the General Dental Council have been made public this month 

The British Orthodontic Society (BOS) was one of 28 organisations from across the dental sector which developed the principles to provide a template of best practice for handling complaints locally.

Chairman of the BOS Clinical Governance committee Joe Noar (pictured), commented: ‘We very much support the ethos behind this initiative. The aim of the working group was to encourage dental teams to seek feedback directly from patients so issues can be remedied in the workplace or a soon as possible. If we can help resolve complaints at a local level through constructive dialogue and negotiation, it’s in everybody’s best interests.’

Dr Noar went on to say: ‘Thanks to the profession-wide approach adopted by the working group, it’s to be hoped that complaint-handling in dentistry will operate to a higher and more consistent standard.’

The six core principles to communicate to patients are:

1. All of your feedback is important to us.
2. We want to make it easy for you to raise a concern or complain, if you need to.
3. We follow a complaints procedure and keep you informed.
4. We will try to answer all your questions and any concerns you raise.
5. We want you to have a positive experience of making a complaint.

Reference

1. https://www.gdc-uk.org/professionals/standards/complaint-handling