Investigating complaint against himself ????

[tazzle22]

I have instigated a complaint against a dentist by sending a letter to (following a discussion with ) the practce manager. I was shocked to receive a letter from the dentist himself saying he had been given the letter, that he was investigating my complaint against him and that all communication be made direct to him !! That means he... and hes a stern individual... would be talking to the only witness, a young dental nurse !!@!

In 40 years in hc profession ... including managerial level ... I have never seen a complaints procedure where the complaninant investigates themselves .

I have alresdy responded by letter to the practice manager expressing my suprise !!!! asking him to email me assp ....but I am already preparing to escalate this whether its about the manager passing the letter on or the dentist pulling a fast one.

I would appreciiate some legal advice on this though .... i know its contrary to professional procedures but is there a legal position on this ??? . Thanks

I've looked into this because our dentist is a nasty minger cheapskate and often works without a dental nurse which means he's rooting round in drawers for stuff with the same hands he shoves in your mouth. However appears to be no way of reporting a dentist to anyone other than themselves. If i remember correctly the NHS webpage I found takes you to the QCC which says step 1 is contact the practice. There's no step above that. And given he's been pulled up for it in his last inspection - he knows.

Do they have their complaints procedure on their website? Is the dentist the sole or senior partner?

It seems like madness to me, tbh. If it was NHS treatment, you can complain to the NHS instead. You could contact the GDC for advice.

The dentist used to own the practice but a large dental company bought him out. There is now a practice manager and he is supposed to be the one investigating the complaint . I am nhs patient so i can escalate it to the nhs PALS system or the big company sysyem.

They dont have the full complaints procedure on the website and they were supposed to send it to me but havent ...

GDC seems to be for private patients so will go nhs route i think.

Sorry yours is not as professional as should be Aunt... its hard when its a dentist on his own.

Well its past the three days znd practice manger not got back to me. Rang PALS st hospital and they cant do anything said try GDC.. but thats for private not nhs. . .

What gives you the idea that the GDC is only for private dentistry? They regulate all dentists, regardless of whether they are private or NHS.