- Governance & Legal
Complaints & Feedback
- Governance & Legal
- ESG & Social
Our Approach to Feedback
Saint Visage Dental Group welcomes both positive feedback and complaints. We view complaints as an important source of learning that helps us improve the quality of care and service we provide. We are committed to handling all complaints promptly, fairly, and transparently, in accordance with the requirements of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the NHS complaints procedure.
How to Complain
If you are unhappy with any aspect of your care or experience at a Saint Visage practice, we encourage you to raise your concern as soon as possible. You can do this by:
- Speaking directly to the practice manager or a member of the team at your practice. Many issues can be resolved quickly and informally at this stage.
- Writing to us by email at complaints@saintvisage.co.uk or by post to the Practice Manager at the relevant practice address.
- Completing our online feedback form on the Contact page of our website.
If you are making a complaint on behalf of someone else, we will need their written consent (unless they are unable to provide it due to incapacity, in which case we will liaise with an appropriate representative).
Our Complaints Process
Stage 1: Local Resolution
We aim to resolve complaints at practice level wherever possible. Upon receiving your complaint, we will:
- Acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days.
- Investigate the matter thoroughly, which may include reviewing clinical records, speaking with the staff involved, and seeking advice from our clinical governance team.
- Provide a full written response within 20 working days, explaining our findings, any apologies due, and actions we will take. If the investigation requires more time, we will keep you informed of the timeline.
Stage 2: Group-Level Review
If you are not satisfied with the response at Stage 1, you may request that your complaint is reviewed at group level. This will be handled by a senior member of the Saint Visage governance team who was not involved in the original investigation. We will provide a group-level response within 20 working days of receiving your request.
Stage 3: External Resolution
If you remain dissatisfied after our internal process, you may escalate your complaint to the following external bodies:
- NHS complaints: For NHS dental treatment, you may contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).
- Private treatment: For complaints about private dental treatment, you may contact the Dental Complaints Service, an independent body established by the GDC.
- GDC: If your concern relates to the fitness to practise of a dental professional, you may contact the General Dental Council.
- CQC: If your concern relates to the quality and safety of care, you may contact the Care Quality Commission.
What Happens With Your Feedback
All complaints and feedback are logged, tracked, and analysed as part of our clinical governance framework. Themes and trends are reported to our board on a quarterly basis. Where complaints identify systemic issues, we develop and implement action plans to drive improvement across our practices.
Positive Feedback
We also appreciate knowing when we get things right. If you have had a positive experience at one of our practices, we welcome your feedback through the same channels listed above, via online review platforms, or by speaking directly with the practice team.
- Complaints Team
Email: complaints@saintvisage.co.uk
Response times: Acknowledgement within 3 working days; full response within 20 working days.
Questions about our policies?
Our governance team is available to discuss any aspect of our policies and procedures.