Patient Complaints Procedure | Castle Street Dental Practice

Last updated: September 2026

Our approach

At Castle Street Dental Practice, we take complaints seriously and handle them with care, courtesy, and respect. If something has not met your expectations, we want to hear from you. Every concern we receive is an opportunity to learn, and we are committed to resolving issues as promptly and fairly as possible.

We aim to handle complaints in the way we would want our own concerns to be handled: listening carefully, investigating thoroughly, and responding honestly.

This procedure applies to all patients of the practice, whether you are receiving NHS or private treatment.

Who can make a complaint?

A complaint may be made by a patient; someone who has been affected, or is likely to be affected, by an action or decision of the practice; or someone acting on behalf of a patient, provided they have the patient’s written consent to do so.

Time limits

You should normally make a complaint within 12 months of the event concerned, or within 12 months of becoming aware that you have grounds for a complaint. We have discretion to accept complaints outside this timeframe where there is good reason why you were unable to complain sooner.

How to make a complaint

We encourage patients to raise concerns directly with us in the first instance. This allows us to resolve things as quickly as possible.

The designated complaints leads at Castle Street Dental Practice are principal dentists Dr Kishan Lakhani and Dr Nikhil Patel.

You can raise a complaint in the following ways.

• In person or by telephone: A member of our team will listen to your concern and offer to connect you with one of our complaints leads straight away. If they are not immediately available, we will arrange a time to call you back and take brief details of your concern in the meantime.
• In writing or by email: Your complaint will be passed to Dr Kishan Lakhani and Dr Nikhil Patel promptly. Written complaints can be sent to the practice address or to info@castlestreetdentalpractice.co.uk.

If your complaint relates to clinical care or associated charges, it will normally be referred to the clinician involved, unless you would prefer that not to happen.

What happens next

• Acknowledgement: We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within three working days of receiving it. With the acknowledgement, we will enclose a copy of this procedure so you understand the stages involved.
• Initial contact: Once your complaint has been acknowledged, we will contact you to discuss the matter in more detail and agree how you would like to be kept informed: by telephone, in person, by letter, or by email.
• Investigation: We will investigate your complaint promptly and keep you regularly updated on progress. We aim to complete most investigations within 25 working days. In complex cases, we will always inform you of the expected timescale and provide updates at least every 10 working days if the investigation is ongoing.
• Written response: Once our investigation is complete, we will send you a full written response. This will set out how the complaint was considered, the conclusions we reached in relation to each point you raised, any action we have taken or plan to take, and, where appropriate, an apology. If we have made a mistake, we will offer to put it right.

All complaints and our responses to them are recorded confidentially and separately from patient records. We use this information to monitor our performance and to continuously improve the service we provide to all patients.

If you are not satisfied with our response

If you feel your complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction after going through our in-house procedure, there are independent organisations you can contact. The options differ depending on whether your treatment was private or NHS.

For complaints about private dental treatment

The Dental Complaints Service, run by the General Dental Council, is a free and impartial service for patients who have received private dental care.

Dental Complaints Service, 37 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8DQ
Tel: 020 8253 0800
Email: info@dentalcomplaints.org.uk
Website: www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk

For complaints about NHS dental treatment

NHS England: If your complaint relates to NHS treatment, you can contact NHS England directly.

NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 2233
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net (please mark your correspondence “For the attention of the Complaints Team”)

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)

If you remain unhappy after our local resolution process, you may refer your complaint to the Ombudsman. The PHSO is independent of the NHS and the Government.

Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP
Tel: 0345 015 4033
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk

Independent advocacy support

If you would like free, confidential support to help you make or manage your complaint, independent health complaints advocacy services are available in your area. Please ask our team for details or search for your local Healthwatch organisation at www.healthwatch.co.uk.

Regulatory concerns

If you have concerns about patient safety that you believe are not being adequately addressed, you may contact the Care Quality Commission. The CQC cannot investigate individual complaints but does act on information about practices that may not be providing safe levels of care.

Care Quality Commission
Tel: 03000 616161
Website: www.cqc.org.uk

Legal action

If you are pursuing, or intend to pursue, legal action in relation to your treatment, you may not simultaneously use the NHS complaints procedure for the same matter. If the legal action concludes or there are unresolved issues not covered by it, the NHS complaints procedure may still be available to you for those aspects.

The General Dental Council: The General Dental Council (GDC) is the regulator for dental professionals in the UK. If you have concerns about the fitness to practise of a dental professional at this practice, you can contact the GDC directly.

General Dental Council, 37 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8DQ
Tel: 020 7167 6000
Website: www.gdc-uk.org

Castle Street Dental Limited | 21 Castle Street, High Wycombe, HP13 6RU | Tel: 01494 527971 | info@castlestreetdentalpractice.co.uk