Legal

General Dental Council Website (GDC)

Complaints Procedure

We try to ensure that all of our patients are pleased with their experience of our services. We welcome feedback from patients and take any complaints seriously. We aim to deal with any complaints courteously and efficiently so that they can be resolved as quickly as possible.

Our complaints procedure outlines how we will deal with any complaints.

The person responsible for dealing with any complaints in the practice is Cerri Crowe

Complaints Made Verbally

If you wish to make a complaint over the phone or in person, we will listen to your complaint and offer to refer you to the complaints lead. If they are unavailable, the staff member will take your details and a brief explanation of the complaint to pass on. Your complaint will be acknowledged within 3 working days.

Complaints Made via Email or Letter

Any letters or emails regarding a complaint will be immediately passed to the complaints lead. Your complaint will be acknowledged within 3 working days.

Investigation

We will contact you to discuss your complaint unless it can be resolved easily. Any complaints involving clinical care will be referred to the treating dentist unless you request this not to happen.

We will then investigate your complaint and will aim to have a response for you within 10 working days. If it is not possible to resolve this within that timeframe, we will inform you and let you know when it is likely to be resolved.

Once we have made a decision regarding your complaint we will inform you by your preferred contact method.

It is possible that if a complaint regards clinical care or is complex, we may need to seek advice from our insurers, indemnifiers or legal advisors and, therefore, may need to share some of your information for this purpose.

Complaints to External Bodies

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will make use of our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will provide the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. However, this does not affect your right to complain to an independent body, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.

The CQC: The CQC don’t get directly involved with complaints made to the practice. They do, however, encourage giving feedback to service providers.

To send feedback to the CQC please go to: https://www.cqc.org.uk/give-feedback-on-care

Telephone: 03000 616161 (Mon to Fri, 8.30am – 5.30pm Excluding Bank Holidays)

North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board
Pemberton House, Colima Avenue
Sunderland Enterprise Park
Sunderland SR5 3XB
Telephone: 0191 512 8484
Email: Nencicb-sun.reception@nhs.net

You can also contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman if you are unhappy with how the practice, or ICB, has dealt with your complaint.

Telephone: 0345 015 4033

Website: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk

Private: Dental Complaints Service

Telephone: 0208 253 0800 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm)

Website: https://dcs.gdc-uk.org/

GDC

Telephone: 0854 222 4141 or 0207 887 3800

Website: https://contactus.gdc-uk.org/Complaint/Process/13

Last updated: 12/7/26

Review date: 12/7/27

Privacy notice for patients including children

The practice is committed to complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, GDC, NHS and other standards.

Data Controller
Corbridge Dental Practice is the Data Controller responsible for your personal data.
Address: 32 Princes Street Corbridge, NE45 5DG
Email: smile@cobridgedental.co.uk
Telephone: 01434 633307

We collect and process your personal data when you provide the information requested on this form or request more information about or purchase a product or service.

What type of information do we hold?

• Personal details such as your address, date of birth, phone number and email address

• This is for the provision of dental health care, providing treatment plans, estimates and recalls

• Details of your NHS or e.g. Dental Plan Provider number and entitlement to healthcare treatment and exemption status if applicable

• Personal details of family members or emergency contact details

• Medical history including your GP’s name and address

• Past and present dental history including x-rays and photographs

• Information about the treatment we have proposed and provided along with its price.

• Notes of conversations or incidents that might occur for which a record needs to be kept

• Records of permission or consent for treatment.

• Correspondence to other healthcare professions such as referrals

• Financial information relating to your treatment

• Details of any complaints made

We only collect the personal data about you requested on this form and that you otherwise provide to us AND We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you as well as the information on this form. This data may include identity data, contact data, financial data, transaction data, technical data, profile data, usage data and marketing and communications data.

Information collected via our website

When you use our website, we may collect and process personal data that you provide directly, for example when you:

• Complete a contact form

• Submit an enquiry

• Register as a patient

This information may include your name, contact details, and any details you choose to provide in your message.

We may also automatically collect limited technical information, such as:

• IP address

• Browser type and device information

• Website usage data through cookies (where applicable)

This information is used to:

• Respond to your enquiries

• Manage appointments

• Improve our website and services

• Ensure website security

Where cookies or similar technologies are used, you will be provided with clear information and choices in line with data protection requirements.

We will only use information collected via our website for legitimate purposes and in accordance with this privacy notice.

Why do we need to keep this information?

We use your information to:

• Provide safe and appropriate dental care and treatment

• Maintain accurate clinical records

• Arrange appointments and recalls

• Communicate with other healthcare professionals

• Process payments and manage accounts

• Meet legal and regulatory obligations

• Manage complaints and incidents

• Improve our services

Our legal basis for processing data is:

We process your personal data under the following lawful bases:

• Article 6(1)(c) – Legal obligation (e.g. NHS, regulatory requirements)

• Article 6(1)(e) – Public task (where NHS care is provided)

• Article 6(1)(f) – Legitimate interests (e.g. managing appointments, complaints, business administration)

For special category health data:

• Article 9(2)(h) – Health and social care provision

• Article 9(2)(f) – Legal claims

What do we do with your Information?

We will only share your information if it is done securely, and it is necessary for us to do so.

Your personal information may be securely shared with other healthcare professionals who need to be involved in your care (for example if we refer you to a specialist, need laboratory work undertaken or need to consult with your doctor)

We may also share your personal information securely to third parties where we are required by law or regulation to do so. This may include:

• The General Dental Council

• The CQC/HIW/HIS/RQIA

• Dental payment plans or insurers

• NHS Bodies if NHS dental care and treatment is provided

We may also share your data with trusted service providers (e.g. dental software providers, IT support, payment processors) who process data on our behalf under strict contractual agreements.

We will only send you marketing communications if you have given explicit consent or where the law allows. You maywithdraw your consent at any time.

How do we store your Information?

• Your Information is stored securely at the practice in Paper form and on our computer systems Computer information is backed up regularly and may be securely stored away from our premises.

Retention periods

• We retain dental records in line with the NHS Records Management Code of Practice (or equivalent guidance), typically for a minimum of 11 years (or longer where required).

• There are several other documents that we may collect that have a variety of retention dates, for example the NHS PR form – used to declare payment exemptions – which needs to be kept for 2 years minimum. We have a retention schedule listing all documents and the timeframes for disposal. Retention periods may be changed from time to time based on business or legal and regulatory requirements

Your rights under GDPR

• Access

You have a right to access the information that we hold about you and to receive a copy. You can make a request by contacting your practice or by e-mailing <Practice Email Address>.

• Rectification

You have a right to correct any information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. Please contact your practice to request a change in information.

• Erasure

You have a right to request that we delete your personal information, although you should be aware that, for legal reasons, we may be unable to erase certain information (for example, information about your dental treatment). Please contact your practice to make this request.

• Restriction

You have the right to request us to restrict the processing of your personal information for example, sending you reminders for appointments or information about our service. Please contact your practice to make this request.

• Portability

You have a right to data portability; this could include supplying your information to another dentist. Please contact your practice to make this request.

Concerns or Complaints

If you have a concern about how your personal data is being used, we ask that you contact us in the first instance so we can investigate and resolve the issue.

We take all data protection complaints seriously and will:

• Acknowledge your concern promptly

• Investigate the matter thoroughly

• Respond within a reasonable timeframe

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at any time, although we encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve your concern. Further details on how complaints are handled can be found without our Complaints Policy.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, or start a live chat or call helpline on 0303 123 1113.

Privacy notice for Children

When you visit our dental practice, we need to collect some information about you.

What type of information do we record?

• Personal details such as your address, date of birth, phone number and email address

This is for the provision of dental health care, providing treatment plans and recalls

• Personal details of family members or emergency contact details

• Medical history including your GP’s name and address

• Information about the treatment we have proposed and provided

• Notes of conversations or incidents that might occur for which a record needs to be kept

• Correspondence to other healthcare professions such as referrals.

Why do we need to keep this information?

We need to keep records of personal information regarding our patients in order to provide safe and appropriate dental care and treatment. It is also used to maintain accurate treatment records.

We also need to process personal data about you if we are providing care under NHS arrangements and to ensure the proper management and administration of the NHS.

What do we do with your Information?

We will keep your information safe. Only the people involved in your care will be able to see your information. We will not share your information with anyone else unless we are required to by law or where it’s really important for your health such as if we need to refer you to another dentist or orthodontist.

Your Rights

Where a child is not considered competent to make their own decisions, consent will be obtained from a person with parental responsibility. Where a child is deemed competent (Gillick competent), they may make decisions about their own data.

Retention periods

For children – we will retain your dental records for 11 years or until you reach the age of 25 (or 26th birthday is young person finished treatment at 17 years old) (whichever is longer).

For details of your rights under data protection laws, including the right to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK regulator for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk), please contact our Data Protection Officer via email at smile@corbridgedental.co.uk.

Updates 12/07/26

Review date 12/07/27