Policies and
Compliance

our complaints policy and procedure

It is our aim to always have satisfied patients, to meet your expectations of care and service and to resolve any complaints as efficiently, effectively and politely as possible. We take complaints very seriously; we investigate them in a full and fair way and take great care to protect your confidentiality.

If you are not entirely satisfied with any aspect of our care or service please let us know as soon as possible to allow us to address your concerns promptly. We will never discriminate against patients who have made a complaint. Please address all complaints to Joanne Morton who is the Practice Manager. If we cannot resolve your complaint immediately it will be acknowledged in writing within 3 working days and we aim to provide a full response within 10 working days.

If Joanne Morton is unavailable, we will take brief details about the complaint and let you know when you can talk to a suitable team member as soon as possible. We will keep comprehensive and confidential records of your complaint, which will be stored securely. Only those persons who need to know about your complaint are informed about it and can access it.

Should the complaint need to be investigated, this may involve the person who treated you, members of the team or others. In some cases the investigation may take longer than 10 working days, in which case you will be informed about the reason for the delay, the progress of the investigation and the proposed date it will be completed.

When the investigation has been completed, you will be informed of its outcome in writing and invited to a meeting to discuss the results and any practical solutions that we can offer to you. These solutions could include replacing treatment, refunding fees paid, referring you for specialist treatments or other solutions that meet your needs and resolve the compliant.

We regularly analyse patient complaints to learn from them and to improve our services. That’s why we always welcome your feedback, comments, suggestions and complaints. If you are dissatisfied with our response to a complaint you can take it further, please see the contacts at the top of the page.

if you need further help…

In addition to this, for NHS treatment you can make a complaint to the commissioner of NHS services. This is either to NHS England or our local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) who can be contacted at: solihull.ccg@nhs.net.

NHS England can be contacted at england.contactus@nhs.net.

If you are still unhappy about your NHS compliant, you can contact the Parliamentary Health Ombudsman: please call 0345 015 4033 or visit www.ombudsman.org.uk

For private (non NHS) patients, there is an independent dental complaints service funded by the General Dental Council; The Dental Complaints Service exists to assist private dental patients and dental professionals resolve complaints about private dental services. To seek their help with a dental complaint, telephone 08456 120 540 in office hours (Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm) or they can be contacted as follows:

Dental Complaints Service Stephenson House2 Cherry Orchard RoadCroydonCR0 6BA

Phone: 08456 120 540Email: info@dentalcomplaints.org.uk  Website: dcs.gdc-uk.org

data protection privacy notice for patients

In providing your dental care and treatment, we will ask for information about you and your health. Occasionally, we may receive information from other providers who have been involved in providing your care. This privacy notice is a shortened form of our Privacy Policy and describes the type of personal information we hold, why we hold it and what we do with it. If any patient wishes to have a copy of our full policy then please ask the Practice Manager.

Orthodontics For You takes great care to protect the personal data we hold for you in line with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The purpose of collecting and storing personal data about you is to ensure we can:

  • Provide, appropriate, safe and effective dental care, treatment and advice for you.
  • Fulfil any contracts we hold in relation to your Orthodontic Care,
  • For business administration of your Orthodontic Care.

Personal Data held for our patients:

The personal data we process (processing includes obtaining the information, using it, storing it, securing it, disclosing it and destroying it) for you includes:

  • Personal details such as your name, date of birth, NHS number, address, telephone number, email address and next of kin.
  • Doctors details and occupation.
  • Information about your dental and general health, including
  • Clinical records made by dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care and treatment
  • X-rays, clinical photographs, digital scans of your mouth and teeth, and study models
  • Medical and dental histories
  • Treatment plans and consent
  • Notes of conversations with you about your care
  • Dates of your appointments
  • Details of any complaints you have made and how these complaints were dealt with
  • Correspondence with other health professionals or institutions
  • Details of the fees we have charged, the amounts you have paid and some payment details

Dr. Mark Forty is responsible for keeping secure the information about you that we hold and ensures the practice complies with data protection requirements to ensure that we collect, use, store and dispose of your information responsibly.

Those at the practice who have access to your information include dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care and treatment, and the reception staff responsible for the management and administration of the practice.

How we use your information:

To provide you with the dental care and treatment that you need, we require up-to-date and accurate information about you.

We will share your personal information with third parties to enable us to deliver a service to you or where we have another legitimate reason for doing so, or when required by law, we may need to disclose your information to a third party not connected with your health care, including HMRC or other law enforcement or government.

Third parties we may share your personal information with may include:

  • Regulatory authorities such as the General Dental Council or the Care Quality Commission.
  • NHS Local Authorities
  • Your doctor
  • Other Dental providers including Local Dental Hospitals
  • Laboratories
  • The Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies, where you are claiming exemption or remission from NHS charges
  • Private dental schemes of which you are a member
  • Insurance companies
  • Loss assessors
  • Fraud prevention agencies

We may also share personal information where we consider it to be in the patient’s best interest or if we have reason to believe an individual may be at risk of harm or abuse.

We will seek your preference for how we contact you about your dental care. Our usual methods are telephone, email or letter.

If we wish to use your information for dental research or dental education, we will discuss this with you and seek your consent. Depending on the purpose and if possible, we will anonymise your information. If this is not possible we will inform you and discuss your options.

We may use your contact details to inform you of products and services available at our Practice.

We will only disclose your information on a need-to-know basis and will limit any information that we share to the minimum necessary.

Keeping your information safe:

We store your personal information securely on our practice computer system (models are stored securely on site). Your information cannot be accessed by those who do not work at the practice; only those working at the practice have access to your information. They understand their legal responsibility to maintain confidentiality and follow practice procedures to ensure this.

We take precautions to ensure security of the practice premises, the practice filing systems and computers

We use high-quality specialist dental software to record and use your personal information safely and effectively. Our computer system has a secure audit trail and we back-up information routinely.

We keep your records and Orthodontics study models while you are a patient of our practice and after you cease to be a patient, for at least 11 years or for children until age 25, whichever is the longer.

Access to your information and other rights:

You have a right to access the information that we hold about you and to receive a copy. You should submit your request to the practice in writing or by email. We do not usually charge you for copies of your information; if we pass on a charge, we will explain the reasons.

You can also request us to

  • Correct any information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. If we have disclosed that information to a third party, we will let them know about the change
  • Erase information we hold although you should be aware that, for legal reasons, we may be unable to erase certain information (for example, information about your dental treatment
  • Stop using your information – for example, sending you reminders for appointments or information about our service
  • Supply your information electronically to another dentist.
  • Restrict the processing of your information, including automated decision-making.

Consent:

Orthodontics For You will always obtain specific, opt in consent from you for direct marketing information when you join our practice via our Medical History Form.

After you have given your opt in consent you have a right to withdraw your consent at any time.

If you do not agree:

You have a right to complain about how we process your personal data. All complaints concerning personal data should be made in person or in writing to Joanne Morton. All complaints will be dealt with in line with the practice complaints policy and procedures.

If you do not wish us to use your personal information as described, you should discuss the matter with your dentist. If you object to the way that we collect and use your information, we may not be able to continue to provide your dental care.

If you have any concerns about how we use your information and you do not feel able to discuss it with your dentist or anyone at the practice, you should contact The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (0303 123 1113 or 01625 545745).

In some circumstances the practice sends necessary laboratory work to Dallas in the United States.

Lab work sent outside the EU will be labelled with your unique identifying number rather than your name. A record of the unique identifying number will be held at the practice.

Version

This Privacy Notice was reviewed and implemented on 30th April 2018.

It will be reviewed annually and is due for review on 29th April 2019 or prior to this date in accordance with new guidance or legislative changes.

patient ingestion policy

It is the aim of the practice if for patients to have safe and effective treatment in a safe and well informed manner.

We are aware one of the risks involved with fixed appliance treatment is brackets becoming debonded due to poor compliance or compromised bond strength. This is an unavoidable risk and through using efficient and good quality bonding agents combined with good patient education we have reduced the risk as low as reasonable practicable.

Many patients with debonded brackets will find the bracket and can usually remove it from their mouth without an issue. These patients are advised that although breakages are not ideal for treatment progression, this is something that unless, the patient is in pain or discomfort, is appropriate to be left until next routine appointment.

Occasionally the patient may have lost the bracket and believe they have swallowed it. If a patient in this situation calls and reports the bracket has been swallowed the advice remains the same. If the patient is in any pain or discomfort with the appliance they are able to schedule an appointment to remove the source of the issue. We would reassure the patient that the swallowed bracket is small and smooth enough to pass through the body without any reason for concern.

If a patient reports any symptoms we would advise the patient to attend their Doctors or A&E as appropriate.

If a patient reports they have inhaled a bracket, the patient would be informed to attend A&E immediately.