Regulatory Cover

A dentist should offer clinical excellence and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) helps to ensure this across England. An independent oversight body, which works on behalf of patients to maintain standards.

You can read a full copy of the CQC report on Elgin Dental Care at their website. Our dental best practice page offers a snapshot of the outcome and details of a similar, British Dental Association (BDA) scheme.

The BDA initiative is voluntary, rather than statutory, although a useful measure of the support you will receive at a dental practice. Regulatory organisations are also in place for individual dental, or medical staff.

Ensuring Qualification

The General Dental Council regulates dental professionals in the UK. They provide a searchable register of all those allowed to practice, which includes approved qualifications and specialist skills.

A few dentists, such as our implants specialist Fadi Barrak, are also qualified as doctors. The General Medical Council holds additional details of their registration.

As you can see on the team page, our staff may belong to other professional organisations which promote ethical practice. In most cases, not least the CQC and GDC, feedback from patients is welcomed.

Comments & Complaints

Turning to an external body can make sense, although in almost all cases, they will ask you to first follow procedures at the practice.

Comments of any form are always welcomed at Elgin Dental Care. You can talk to staff, use email, or telephone routes, or pick up a feedback form at our practice, with an enclosed self addressed envelope.

Should you have any reason to request a more formal look at any occurrence, we have a set procedure in place:

• The person responsible for complaint management is Mehrnoush Tahmasebi, our resident Practice Manager.
• Mehrnoush can be contacted by email through this link, by letter, or by telephoning our practice at any time.
• If a complaint relates to a dentist, this will be discussed with them, unless you choose to indicate otherwise.
• We aim to provide an initial, yet reasonably well investigated response within three working days.
• If further investigation is required, we will normally seek to complete this within a further ten working days.
• Should further scrutiny be needed, or an external body become involved, we will notify you of any possible delay.

Comprehensive records of any complaint will be kept. You can be assured they will be dealt with courteously and as promptly as possible.

If for any reason patients are not satisfied with our procedure, they can refer to an independent regulated dental authority, such as the Dental Complaints Service, or to the professional and regulatory bodies mentioned earlier.

The UK is a well regulated area and we believe our practice fits well with this but we take comments of any form seriously. Listening carefully to patients is an essential part of good ethical standards.