Complaints Procedure

At Smiles Dental, part of Bupa Dental Care, our patients are truly at the heart of everything we do. We try to ensure that all patients are pleased with their experience of our service and we take any concerns a patient may have very seriously.

a) If you have a concern regarding any aspect of your care, please let the Practice Manager know. We’ll do all that we can to resolve it to your satisfaction, both promptly and professionally. The Practice Manager is the person responsible for investigating and responding to all patient complaints.

b) If your concern relates to clinical dental treatment the Practice Manager will always seek the treating dentists’ comments in order to provide you a full detailed response.

c) If complaining on behalf of someone else, please note, we will require written consent in order to discuss their personal information.

d) We’ll acknowledge your complaint in writing within two days and will also include a copy of this complaint procedure. We will investigate your concerns and aim to provide a full response within 20 working days. If, for any reason, we are unable to complete our investigations within 20 working days, we will notify you, giving reasons for the delay and the likely period within which the investigation will be completed.

e) If you’re not satisfied with the outcome received, please let the Practice Manager know. In some circumstances, this may be escalated to our Patient Liaison Team to review and provide a final response.

f) If you remain unhappy once we have provided our final response you may be able to refer your complaint, free of charge, for an independent review. Please note that time limits may apply so you’ll need to get in touch as soon as possible.

If you’re a public services patient, you can contact the Health Services Executive (HSE) by email [email protected] by phone 1890 424 555 (from landline) or 045 880 400 (from a mobile), further information can be found online.

You can raise your complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman (or Ombudsman for Children) by completing a form online https://www.ombudsman.ie/making-a-complaint/make-a-complaint/ further information can be found on their website.
If you’re a private patient, you can contact the Irish Dental Council by email [email protected] by phone – 01 676 2226, further information can be found on their website.