A dental practice in the York area

2. Mr A complains about the way the Practice handled his complaint dated 8 March 2021. He says the only responses to his complaint came from the dentist he complained about, which was a conflict of interest.

3. Mr A says he was left feeling no one cared. He says he has lost faith in NHS dentistry. Mr A says the stress from the complaints process impacted his mental health.

4. Mr A wants service improvements.

5. Mr A says a dentist damaged two of his teeth while cleaning them on 19 February 2021. He made a complaint on 8 March 2021. He asked the Practice to look into what happened. Mr A wants compensation and service improvements.

6. The dentist Mr A complained about sent a response to Mr A on 25 March 2021. Mr A responded to the practice manager on 31 March, and they forwarded a further response from the dentist on 13 April. The dentist sent a third response on 17 May. The dentist said Mr A’s account of what happened was different from how they remembered it or from what was in the clinical records. The dentist offered a refund as a goodwill gesture.

7. Mr A did not feel the amount was enough for the ongoing dental care he needed. He was also still unhappy the dentist would not accept responsibility for the damage. Mr A therefore took his complaint to the Practice’s liaison team on 4 July 2021. On 27 July, the liaison team told him the complaint had been passed to the dentist’s insurance provider to consider Mr A’s request for compensation.

8. On 14 September 2021, Mr A wrote to the insurance provider telling them he was no longer looking for compensation. The insurance provider answered this on the same day and confirmed they would not take further action.

9. Mr A brought his complaint to us on 16 December 2021. We asked the liaison team to give a final response, which it did on 10 March 2023.

12. Before we decide whether we should look at a complaint in detail, we look at whether there are signs the events complained about had a negative effect the organisation has not put right. Having done so, we think that, following our intervention, the complaint is now resolved.

13. Mr A felt the Practice had not looked at his complaint properly. He said the only person who had looked into whether anything went wrong with his treatment was the dentist who treated him. He says it was a conflict of interest.

14. The Practice’s complaints procedure says the practice manager was the person responsible for looking into and responding to patient complaints. It says if the complaint was about clinical care, the practice manager would ask the treating dentist for comments.

15. The complaints procedure says if a complainant is not happy with the response, the complaint may be taken to the Practice’s liaison team to review and give a final response.

16. This complaint is not about the content of the Practice’s complaint responses, but about the seeming lack of impartiality. As stated above, the first responses to Mr A’s complaint came directly from the dentist. Also, at the time Mr A made his complaint to us, the liaison team had not given a final response.

17. We understand Mr A’s initial concerns. The Practice had not acted in line with its own complaint policy, which stated the practice manager was responsible for investigating and then the liaison team. Neither had given an independent response. The only responses had come directly from the dentist being complained about. There are signs the Practice failed to follow its own procedures.

18. Mr A says his experience changed his view on making complaints. He says he has had to chase for a long time and the lack of investigation made him question whether it was worth it. Mr A says he understands mistakes can happen but he lost faith in NHS dentistry, as he felt when mistakes did happen nothing was done to put things right.

19. Mr A says dealing with his complaint for two years had been extremely stressful. We are sorry to hear this, along with the dentist’s denial of something going wrong, impacted Mr A’s mental health.

20. Mr A says he was worried the same thing could happen to others. The Practice’s complaints procedure said there would be some independence to its responses. While the procedure stated the dentist might have some input, the responses should have been at least one step removed from that clinician.

21. There are also signs that, at the time Mr A came to us, there was still an injustice that had not yet been put right. At that point, Mr A had still not had a response from the practice manager or liaison team in line with its complaints procedure. He did not think he had got an impartial response.

22. After we got Mr A’s complaint, we got in touch with the Practice’s liaison team, which agreed to have another look at his complaint.

23. In its response to Mr A, the liaison team said it had looked at his account of what happened on 19 February 2021, his medical records and statements from the dentist. The liaison team said it had not seen evidence in photos Mr A provided that the damage had been caused during the cleaning process. It says due to the different accounts of what happened it would be difficult to know how to better train staff. The liaison team apologised if Mr A felt it had let him down.

24. After we got involved, the Practice sent a last response to Mr A via its liaison team. We think it has now acted in line with its policy. It also apologised to him.

25. We understand it may not be the response Mr A would have wanted, but we hope it assures Mr A his complaint has now been dealt with in line with the Practice’s complaints procedure.

26. We accept Mr A dealt with his complaint for a long time and do not underestimate the distress this caused him. We are satisfied Mr A’s complaint has been independently looked into in line with the Practice’s procedure. We think this matter is resolved and will not take further action.

27. We thank Mr A for bringing his complaint to us.

1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Mr A’s complaint about a dental practice in the York area (the Practice). We are sorry to hear Mr A’s experience of the Practice’s complaint handling caused him distress. We have decided the complaint is now resolved because the Practice has properly responded to his complaint.